Executive Identity and the Hero's Story: The Voyage of Dodge Morgan and the American Promise

Abstract

Executive performance is discussed in terms of Bakan's theory of the dualism of human motivation with respect to agency (the motivation toward self-differentiation and personal mastery) and communion (the subsuming of the self within a shared entity). The article demonstrates that agency is prototypical of executive performance, and that communion is a goal for the potential development of executives. Agency provides benefits leading to executives' success, but has concomitant drawbacks that can cause executives to risk career derailment and the loss of supportive relationships. Using McAdams's model of personal identity and the life story, the authors propose that identity provides a means of channeling agency so that one may use its power yet minimize its hazards. Illustrations of the ideas presented herein are provided from the extensively documented life story of Dodge Morgan, an executive who sailed nonstop and alone around the world in 1986.