Those who engage in one of the Ms can share stories and offer advice regarding the nature, costs and benefits of mediating, monitoring, motivating, and mobilizing. They can also provide some insights regarding how these other M’s complement the generative role of mentoring–and create the conditions for Generativity Two to flourish. To gain some sense regarding what insights these generative folks might offer we provide some comments about the four M’s made by our Sage leaders and turn first to the role of mediator.
Mediator
This first of the four M’s has much to do with conflict. In a complex civic environment, there is room for diverse and passionately held opinions about many issues. We begin with a story provided by one of our Sage leaders about a direct role he played as mediator in a conflict-filled situation:
“We had a board member who was abusing the office staff. I met with him and asked that he stop. He thought about it and decided to resign from the board, although he is still supporting the organization. That was a success. He was a major contributor, and I was very much afraid he would stop, but he hasn’t. There are also financial issues and the selection of a new Artistic Director. Another role I have played is driving home the fact that we are in a serious recession, that donations and ticket sales are going to be down, and that we must stop spending more each year than the year before. And now we are facing the need to search for a new Executive Director, and it is probable that I will serve on the search committee.”
Through our study of Sage leaders, we concluded that the Generativity Two Sage leader who can mediate conflict and help mentor other people to become more effective and collaborative problem-solvers provides an invaluable service to her community (Quehl and Bergquist, 2012).
One of our Sage leaders frames the role of mediator in a broad, historical context:
“I always felt this country was founded on people becoming involved in their community. Back then we didn’t have professional politicians because business and other leaders would come together to run their community, then leave and someone else would come and do the job. Well, we’ve screwed that up. I’ve always felt an obligation to pay back the community, because the people before me established an excellent school system and form of government. I’ve always felt the need to be involved, and I’ve always enjoyed it, working with right-thinking people who appreciate the community.”
Ultimately, it seems that effective mediation involves many of the analytic and relational skills we identified earlier with regard to alternative definitions of generativity. Mediation (and perhaps all forms of generativity) also seems to require a strong dose of patience:
“I have a lot more patience for stupidity than I used to have. In many cases, it’s naiveté. Early on, that would irritate me no end. I’d have a hard time being patient with people who didn’t get it or didn’t want to get it. I came to accept that sometimes it’s just like that.”
Monitor
The second of the four M’s complements mentoring (the fifth M) by providing an oversight function that is observant rather than judgmental. This is a tricky balance for any Generativity Two leader who wishes to be supportive, but also provide insights and expertise regarding the organization where she is serving as mentor. This monitoring leader is particularly concerned about uninformed and unreflective decision-making:
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