A decade-long research project known at the Whitehall Studies followed 10,000 British employees comparing health outcomes to different pay grades.

Sheena Iyengar cited this study in her best-selling book, The Art of Choosing.

Contradicting the stereo-type of the hard-charging boss who drops dead of a heart attack at 45, the studies found that although the higher-paying jobs came with greater pressure, employees in the lowest paying grades, such as a doorman, were three times more likely to die of coronary heart disease. 

The researchers traced the cause for this differential to an unlikely source – the degree of control employees had over their work.

Lack of control spawned frequent low-grade stressors that wrecked the health of the blue-collar workers.

The researchers concluded that most people have an innate drive for autonomy and feel stress when it’s not met.

During interviews, start asking questions like:

New agent prospect: In your current job, do you feel like you have control over your destiny? (Why not?)

Experienced agent prospect: With your current broker, do you feel some restrictions limiting your success? (What are they?)

By doing so, you’ll be dangling the autonomy carrot.

To high-performers who are  stuck in dead-end jobs or stressful situations, autonomy appears irresistible.