This motivationally oriented Sage leader speaks about being a “cheerleader,” especially when the “going gets tough”:
“My strongest role is as a motivator—whether getting volunteers working with the girls, understanding why this work is so important, or empathizing when the work gets tough. I play this role with the board as well, walking a fine line between leader and cheerleader. Board members need to have a good grasp of the issues, but also not panic when those issues seem overwhelming.”
A final insight we offer from our Sage interviews brings us back to the fundamental role played by appreciation in all aspects of generativity, including Generativity Two motivation. We motivate by helping our colleagues to focus on their own strengths and appreciate them:
“Motivator is an important piece, and probably the strongest tool I use in my advocacy work. There’s a reason that people choose to work touching the lives of children. In engaging them, I help them to examine their core beliefs and mental models as a way to increase their effectiveness. The important part is doing this without destroying their sense of self-worth. It is all a work in progress, everything from education to child welfare to how we feed our kids. It’s unfolding, and we’re learning all of the time. Being positive is one of my strengths. I’m always reframing and don’t even know that I’m doing it, and I think that helps people to look at possibilities.”
Blending the Five M’s
We add back in mentoring as the fifth M. Up to this point, we have treated the five M’s as distinct roles that are all related to the broader process of Generativity Two. We have suggested that all interweave in some manner with the foundational process of mentoring (our fifth M). The actual enactment of Generativity Two, however, often involves interplay among the five Ms.
At the very least, our Sage leaders often acknowledge that they play all five generative roles:
“As a mentor, I have helped my staff and other community members learn how to engage people and deal with different situations. I also try to set a good example and help people to engage in advocacy, empowerment, and self-directing their lives. As a mediator I work to resolve community conflict, especially in situations where people have strong feelings or may not understand the whole picture. As a monitor, I am also very engaged in working with people who contact us because they feel they have been discriminated against. We know their rights, and we work with businesses and organizations to help ensure that these people are heard. Being a mobilizer is my favorite role, and where I have been most involved. My work has focused on systems change and making social change in our community, our politics, and our policies to support fairness and equality for people with disabilities. This has been the most challenging and the most rewarding role. We advocate on each individual’s own behalf but do not tell the community what it needs to do. Instead, we mobilize the community to see what is best for each individual, and what each wants to do to make that change on his or her own behalf. This approach has had excellent success.”
Download Article 1K Club
