Power is a huge motivator in the business world. It’s often the most powerful and most successful businesspeople that receive the most recognition. Jordan Belfort, famous for being the wolf of Wall Street, is no exception. He earned his fame and fortune through fraud and scams. As we learned in class, rewards aren’t always fair, and power can be very influential. In Jordan’s case, he was greatly rewarded for his cons, although greed was more of a factor than pressure from his bosses. After Jordan got caught, he served 22 months in jail, which was a very light consequence for the amount of money he stole. In my opinion, Jordan’s bad behaviour was never really punished, and is just another example of our society’s reward system. Jordan, who scammed hundreds of people, is still getting rewarded for what he did. The movie, his book, and numerous tours are getting him even more popularity than when he swindled stocks. He is being rewarded, even idolized for his behaviour despite it being illegal. It’s as Jordan said, “You can get desensitized to your own actions – it’s easy on Wall Street”. Some people will do anything for rewards.
Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-07/jordan-belfort-the-real-wolf-of-wall-street
http://hbr.org/2003/01/power-is-the-great-motivator/ar/1
Photo Source:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/media/images/j/JordanBelfortRDS_large.jpg