As conversation commences we select a status vis-a-vis the other participants. We might play for higher status, offering a firm handshake, a knowledgeable-sounding interpretation of a current event, or a tale that one-ups the one just told. Or we might play for lower status. Perhaps a tale of a discomforting experience in which they looked foolish, or deference to the better judgement of another.

‘Try to get your status just a little above or below your partner’s,’ I

said, and I insisted that the gap should be minimal. The actors seemed

to know exactly what I meant and the work was transformed. The

scenes became ‘authentic’, and actors seemed marvellously observant.

Suddenly we understood that every inflection and movement implies

a status, and that no action is due to chance, or really ‘motiveless’. It

was hysterically funny, but at the same time very alarming. All our

secret manoeuvrings were exposed. If someone asked a question we

didn’t bother to answer it, we concentrated on why it had been asked.

No one could make an ‘innocuous’ remark without everyone instantly

grasping what lay behind it. Normally we are ‘forbidden’ to see status

transactions except when there’s a conflict. In reality status trans-

actions continue all the time. In the park we’ll notice the ducks

squabbling, but not how carefully they keep their distances when

they are not.

- Keth Johnstone, Impro

Friends (or people becoming friends) turn status transactions into playful capoeira — never quire sure if they’re sparring or dancing. The friendly tease, for example, raises the teaser’s status to just above that of the teased. If the teased responds in the defensive a nerve has been struck. Instead the teased may counter with the exaggeration into self-deprecation (a personal favourite) which indicates the teased gives no fucks and has transcended status threats in this domain:

WILL

It's Will, the really funny good looking guy you met at the bar?



SKYLAR

I'm sorry, I don't recall meeting anyone who fits that description.



WILL

Okay, you got me. It's the ugly, obnoxious, toothless loser who got drunk and wouldn't leave you alone all night.



SKYLAR

Oh Will! I was wondering when you'd call.

Another defence is the counter-tease. Though anyone who went through a New Zealand high-school knows the counter-tease can start an escalating arms race of counter-counter-teases culminating in a tease crossing the indeterminate Actually, That Was Quite Hurtful line.

The rough and tumble of status transactions may be too much for some and a consistently low status strategy will carry less risks. Many live out their lives in a low status groove:

DOBBY

Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir … Such an honor it is …



HARRY POTTER

Th-thank you. Who are you? DOBBY

Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf,

My belief (at this moment) is that people have a preferred status; that they like to be low, or high, and that they try to manoeuvre themselves into the preferred positions. A person who plays high status is saying “Don’t come near me, I bite.” Someone who plays low status is saying “Don’t bite me, I’m not worth the trouble.” In either case the status is a defence, and it’ll usually work. It’s very likely that you will increasingly be conditioned into playing the status that you’ve found an effective defence.

- Keth Johnstone, Impro

Discovering the status subtext was like discovering a secret society. Everyone was a member of Status Club, but the first rule of Status Club was you weren't supposed to talk about Status Club. Of course people did talk about it; but only obliquely in the smaller follow-up meetings to deal with the emotional fallout from the main meeting.

The invisible hands of the unseen economy

Viewed through the lens of status the two group patterns came into focus. Hacky-sack groups guaranteed members generous minimum standards of dignity. When someone felt their status creeping too high, they dutifully paid their status taxes and stopped talking. The Swedens of status.

Leadered groups lack a safety net and they only sure way to get one’s needs met was to compete for, and leverage status into more fulfilling roles and greater autonomy. And like twitter followers, Tupperware and investment capital the more status you had, the easier it was to gain. The group would settle into insiders who did most of the work and earned most of the status — a “status quo”; and an outsider group of followers who “drank the kool-aide” or “checked out”.

For their trouble, leaders could parley immaterial status into real material gain via the gig opportunities market. For followers, status was supposed to trickle down, but more often arrived as praise — status’ homoeopathic dilution.

Leadered groups were numerous and worked. But with status transactions obscuring authentic communication, I supposed leadership must give groups a hidden advantage. The peacock’s beautiful tail does help him attract a mate. An acceptable trade-off for all that time he spends preening.

Everything is awesome when you’re part of a team

What is it about the way we try to fill the empty places in our hearts with, not the companionship of other frail, flawed humans, but with avatars of our projected craving for superheroes and archetypes? — Anon

The advantage was meaningfulness. Unlike our existentially untroubled animal brethren (labradors come to mind) we need meaningfulness to guard against the horror of an insignificant life extinguished by permanent and inevitable death.

The decline of traditional sources of meaningfulness — organised religion and sublime contact with the natural world, leaves modern people empty on the inside, wandering the wasteland of late stage capitalism eking out meaningfulness from less savoury sources.

Leadership fills this void and mediates two powerful forms of meaningfulness for the unfulfilled follower:

Meaningfulness # 1 — Cultural Fit

The leader is the group’s prototypical member, embodying the group’s norms and signalling the appropriate conduct. A follower only need observe and emulate the leader to achieve cultural fit and group acceptance. While prosaic, the norm signalling aspect of leadership serve as a guiding beacon in a follower’s quest.

Meaningfulness #2 — Transformational Leadership

The leader applies personal anecdotes to a complex situation, weaving these into a simple and inspiring vision of the future. The leader connects this vision to followers’ hopes, dreams and identities.

Cultural fit only asks us to modify our outward behaviour. Transformational Leadership asks us remake our identities in alignment with the leader’s vision. A greater investment for sure, but for the unfulfilled follower the promise of a Purposeful Lifeᵀᴹ working towards a Better Worldᵀᴹ is all too tempting.