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By: Phillip Wittmeyer The Goal of Submission expresses in a person as a continual quest for passivity, responsiveness, and acquiescence. The intention here is to surrender to, and maintain an allegiance to, the powers that be. The Submission will be exhibited toward the mate, the nation, the team, the society, the company, the boss, the club — to whatever and to whomever the person with this Goal attaches himself or herself as a devotee. A person with this Goal looks for someone or something to dedicate his life to. He asks for others to take the lead. Then he responds to it willingly and obediently. The person is frustrated if no one or nothing suitable is found to which he can render his need to show respect and homage. The ultimate aim of this Goal is the extinction of ego — "ego" in the sense of self-will and self-assertion. The purpose is to totally yield to reality. It is unnatural for a person with this Goal to struggle to maintain his independence or ascendancy. A person in Submission does not make things happen, he lets them happen. A person with this Goal looks forward to the time when there is nothing new, when all the laws are made and followed, when the patterns of behavior are permanently set, and all novelty is put into the past. A person with this Goal has a strong sense of duty and responsibility, of faithfulness and honor to any commitments made. He shows deference to his leaders or superiors. He likes being a part of a team effort, working together for a goal. Comradeship is very important. He focuses seriously on the task at hand, planning to carry it to fulfillment as effectively has he can. In a relationship, he believes that his loyalty puts the other person in a bind to be loyal also, and he is surprised if the other betrays this trust, and is "perfidious". For the System, the Positive Pole of Submission is called "+Devotion (though I prefer Dedication). In this Pole the person seeks loyalty to something or someone. It is important to someone in this Pole to find a person, a cause, or an institution to truly respect and honor. In the extreme case of Devotion (Dedication), this is a person who would like to attach himself to a person or situation, and give the self over to it. If the person is religious natured, then perhaps God or the church is the ultimate answer here. Often a person in +Devotion (Dedication) likes to become a part of a movement that is stronger than any individual. Numbers of such people gather to form a mass movement. They all march together, so to speak, for a cause. It fulfills them to be a cog in a big machine. The larger the machine, the better, in fact. The Negative Pole of Submission is called "-Subservience". If you are in this Pole, you tend to look for a law outside yourself to obey. Rather than taking responsibility for yourself, you put it onto some rulebook, or some leader, or some principle. You seek a law for every life situation. If you make plans, you try strongly to adhere to them. You desire to find out what discipline should be followed. You seek to be obedient to the rules, to follow orders. If you are in a business, political, or military situation — where this Goal is very appropriate — and you are in the Negative Pole, you will desire regulations to cover every circumstance, or you will readily adopt someone else's prescribed procedure. You willingly allow yourself to be a pawn in the power games of life. You may ask, "What are the guidelines here?", and, "How can I be more attuned to the laws?", and, "What do you want from me, your obedient follower?" A few appropriate mottoes for this Pole are, "Whatever you say", and, "Just tell me what to do", and, "Whose responsibility is this?" In its worst manifestations, if you are a person in -Subservience, you do not take responsibility for yourself because you place the burden on others, saying in effect, "You made me do it." You are unwilling to take charge of your own life. You tend to give up your autonomy and become dependent on the person or institution to which you become attached in your servility. You subjugate yourself with demonstrations of overmuch respect. You are overly compliant and clinging, perhaps even obsequious. When things are going your way, it is easy to stay in the Positive Pole of your Goal, but when things are not going your way, you will tend to slip into the Negative Pole. -Subservience is driven by a fear of disloyalty — loyalty being part of the Positive Pole. When other people are not loyal to you, does that throw you into a tailspin of anxiety? Do you regard it as "abandonment" when others are not faithful? When other people do not obey the rules, does that make you very uneasy? Do you quake in your boots to consider not doing your duty? Do you want other people and the universe in general above all to be dependable? Do you regard disobedience as treasonous and treacherous, worthy of strict punishment? Do you have a lot of trouble stepping forward and taking the initiative? Do you often find yourself trapped in a situation with a commanding or dominating personality? If you answer yes to a lot of these questions, it is very likely you are in Submission, and you have a problem with the Negative Pole. The way for you to overcome -Subservience is to consider and apply the Positive Pole of the Complementary Goal of Dominance, which is +Leadership. Learn to take responsibility for yourself and exercise leadership over yourself, and thereby gain internal control of your life and your situation. This may be a sexist stereotype inherent in our culture, but it seems that a man with this Goal is often totally dedicated to his job or career — he gives his all to it. Whatever the job or boss requires, that is what he does. He acquiesces to its every demand on his time and energy, letting this rule his life. A person with this Goal usually makes an excellent employee — in a follower sense, because he may not be a great self-starter. However, he will stick with the company through good times and bad, and he will expect the company to stand by him also. Similar statements could be made about his family situations and other personal relationships. A woman with this Goal — and again this seems to be a sexist stereotype in our society — tends to turn her dedication to her husband or lover. She follows him around like the proverbial faithful puppy dog. (Perhaps it can be said that a canine has the Goal of Submission, for he is faithful to his master, and respectfully awaits his arrival home.) She asks for permission to do things, even little things. She seeks his advice on all issues or problems. She looks to him for guidance and direction. In our culture, this Goal is considered to be feminine. Women who have this Goal, yet are more "liberated", might prefer to attach themselves to a career or institution and dedicate their energy to its purposes, rather than to a man. Now let's contrast and compare the Goal of Submission with the other three Traits in the same Quadrate — Dominance, Aggression, and Perseverance — and see what we can learn. The Submission Goal is the Complement of the Dominance Goal. Both Goals are concerned with issues of teamwork. People in Dominance and Submission are both trying to establish a hierarchy, or "pecking order", as it is sometimes called. They both ask, "Who's in charge here", but for opposite reasons. A person with the Goal of Dominance wants to move toward the head of the group, but a person with the Goal of Submission wants to move toward the back of the group. Whereas a person with the Dominance Goal wants to lead others or manage situations, a person with the Submission Goal wants to follow others or let the situation command them. A person in Submission often actually perceives himself as too dominant, so he seeks to avoid pushing other people around or forcing a situation. Submission is the diametric of the Aggression Mode. Whereas a person in Aggression is dynamic and vital, a person in Submission wants to be just the opposite. He tries to be nonassertive, non-forceful, and noncompetitive. He does not insist on getting his way, and he is not pushy or bold. He tends to lack strength and impetuosity, and he is often weak when it comes to putting himself forward. Whereas a person in Aggression is direct and to the point, a person in Submission is likely to "beat around the bush", to backpedal, to go easy, and to tread lightly. People Submission get very uncomfortable in the presence of naked Aggression. It is too unpredictable, and too much of a law unto itself. The Goal of Submission is the Counterpart of the Perseverance Mode. Like people in Perseverance, people in Submission lack a dynamic, vital, lively behavior. Both resist innovation. People in Submission seek what people in Perseverance have — regularity of behavior and continuance of circumstances. People with this Goal find it difficult to let go of bonds of association. They want to keep their friends in spite of the difficulties, stay with their job in spite of the problems, continue in a marriage that doesn't really work, and so on. They take faithfulness to the limit in every case. The goal of Dominance in a personality usually means a desire to initiate events. In its ultimate expression, the person wants to let no happening transpire which is not caused because of him. In terms of people, he regards those who behave independently from himself as disrespectful, disobedient, and perhaps even treasonous. In terms of events, he regards occurrences that arise apart from his instigation to be "insurrections" that need to be quelled. Consequently, it can be difficult for other people to freely exhibit independent behavior in the presence of a person with this Goal. To do so usurps his prerogatives as the leader. The Dominance Goal is the Complement of the Submission Goal. Both Goals in people cause a need to understand where they stand with respect to strength of purpose. However, Dominance is the opposite of passivity. A person in Dominance cannot let things be — he must make things behave, as he wants them to. People in Dominance tend to see themselves as too passive, however. They notice the times they let things happen which are out of their control, and this bothers them. They want to avoid this happening too often. The Dominance Goal is the Counterpart of the Aggression Mode. Dominance wants what Aggression has, a forceful and energetic influence over events. A person in Dominance does not easily yield to outside influences. The person is, in effect, a "law unto himself". He makes his own rules as he goes along, and tends to want to make rules for others to follow. Few others have the right to tells him what to do. He tells most others what to do. The person does not readily give in to circumstances, but rather insists on things happening his way. He refuses to let things get the better of him. He exercises will to master whatever challenge he faces. If he can't control events, he avoids the situation. Whenever he meets a new person, one of the first things a person with this Goal must work through is, "Who is calling the shots here, him or me?" Life is viewed in terms of strength of personality. People with other Goals may be aware of this factor, but to them it is not such an issue. Sociologists call this "pecking order" because it was noticed that chickens in a hen house establish a hierarchy of who pecks whom and who doesn't peck whom. The most dominant chicken could peck all the others but none could peck him. The least dominant could peck none but all others could peck him. The remaining chickens found their places in the pecking order based on the passive/aggressive ratio are inherent in their personalities. So it is with humans. Often there is the making of a power struggle here if both persons have a need to dominate. Both will want to "peck" the other and not be "pecked" back. In employment situations, a person with the Goal of Dominance will be given leadership positions. He will rise until he becomes the boss. If he cannot do this in someone else's company, he will often start his own, since people with this Goal find it uncomfortable to work for someone else — they do not like to take orders, but do like to give them. Another way to say this is that they like to be autonomous. Such people are not receptive to suggestions. One of the problems inherent in this Goal is that people with it tend to take upon themselves responsibility for the behavior of the people around them. They naturally take charge of the situation, so they regard it as their fault if things do not happen as they plan. If something bad happens to someone they have charge of, they take it very personally, blaming themselves. Often they do this for people for whom they have no legitimate responsibility, people for whom they have simply assumed the prerogative to make their decisions for them, unasked. This they often do because they think it is their job to watch out for others. Another problem in people with this Goal is that they have difficulty being consistent. Because of their need to initiate action, to others it often seems they are changing things just for the sake of change. Actually it is for the sake of exercising Dominance — the person wants to stay ahead of the group, to lead it his way, rather than to merely maintain the present course. In the Positive Pole of +Leadership, the person puts himself forward as an example worthy of being followed. He earns the right to lead by proving himself respectable and capable. People in this Pole look for opportunities to exercise leadership. They try to organize things, and they enjoy giving instructions. Such people often become teachers, bosses, coaches, directors, captains, supervisors, overseers, managers, instructors, and the like — any capacity where they can practice their desire to rule. In the Negative Pole of -Dictatorship, the leadership is distorted into mere domineering. The person is afraid he will lose control of the situation, or lose the initiative, so he insists that things happen as he commands, rather than offering himself as an example to be followed. "Do as I say, not as I do" is an excellent expression of this Pole. He issues orders, which he expects to be obeyed without question. He has little respect for the rights of others, but insists that his rights be respected. He regards others as his subjects and demands their loyalty. He seeks to subjugate others, to put them under his control. He resists receiving instructions or advice from others. The way to overcome this is to consider and apply the Positive Pole of the Submission Goal, which is +Dedication. Learn to defer to other people, to submit to the rules of the situation, to attend to one's own duty rather than trying to tell others their duty, and to have respect for the actions of others. Phil Wittmeyer is a longtime Michael student and scholar of the teachings. He can be reached at: wittmeyer@hotmail.com 
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