Adult development was discovered in the late 20th Century by American psychologists. Apparently, men and women change over their lifetime. Novelists have known this for a long time and have been writing about changing life perspectives, values and practices for several centuries. For psychologists, it was a matter of moving beyond the notion that most important development occurs during childhood (the psychoanalytic perspective) or that one’s perspectives, values and practices are primary determined during a lifetime by the environment and events that swirl around oneself (the behavioral perspective).
Stages and Center Stage
The initial lifelong developmental perspective was offered by Erik Erikson, a former actor, who took the notion of “stage” and applied it to predictable development issues that tend to take “center stage” at specific times in life (other issues remaining on stage but less visible). Springboarding from his initial work in the 1950s and 1960s, a large volume of studies and publications have been produced.
The whole notion of adult development gained high public visibility when Gail Sheehy published Passages and when Daniel Levinson and his colleagues offered Seasons of a Man’s Life and later Seasons of a Woman’s Life. The novelists were suddenly joined by psychologist in writing about the adolescent identity crisis, challenges at mid-life, and despair during the senior years of life. As this short list reveals, most of the headlines spoke to the negative side of adult development and change. We have to prepare ourselves for the multiple skirmishes that are going to occur on the battlefield of life.
This is not what Erik Erikson intended. He considered two sides to each development stage. One side led to a more productive mode of life, while the other led to less productive and often destructive modes. Trust is set against mistrust and Hope is the positive outcome. At a second stage, Autonomy struggles with Shame and Douby. A positive outcome concerns Will. At a third stage, initiative is set against Guilt, with a positive outcome being a clearer sense of Purpose.
Moving toward adulthood, one confronts at center stage the tension between Industry and Inferiority. A positive outcome increases a sense of competency. As young adults we struggle with Identity and its opposite (Confusion). Successful work at this stage leads to fidelity. Later, the matter of Intimacy is center stage and is set up against isolation, with Love being the positive outcome. At mid-life, the central theme becomes Generativity, with Stagnation representing the alternative force. A sense of Care becomes the positive outcome. Finally, in later life, Integrity is set up against Despair, with Wisdom being the positive outcome.
It is also important to note that development keeps moving forward in our life even if we have done a lousy job of meeting the issues associated with our current stage. This particular perspective that Erikson offers is often overlooked in the description of lifelong psychological development. It just gets worse as we move along in life: our inability to cope with the challenges of one developmental stage makes it that much more difficult to cope with the challenges of the following stage(s). For some people, the problem begins with the very first Eriksonian stage. They are unable to establish a trusting relationship with significant people in their life (primarily their caretakers) and struggle with issues of trust throughout their life.
The Stage of Generativity
As we have noted, one specific set of developmental issues are likely to take “center stage” in mid-life. It is during this time when professional coaching is most likely to be engaged. These issues concern what Erik Erikson identifies as the matter of Generativity—caring deeply for that about which we care—as it contrasts with Stagnation—a failure to care deeply about anything at this specific period in life. Erikson offers the following summary description regarding the deep caring that is central to Generativity: “Caring is the widening concern for what has been generated by love, necessity, or accident; it overcomes the ambivalence adhering to irreversible obligation.”
While this definition of deep caring seems to be of importance at all stages of life, Erikson considers it (and Generativity) to be of greatest importance during the middle of our life (generally our 30s to 60s). At center stage during our mid-life is the choice between Generativity and Stagnation. This choice, in turn, helps to determine our successful (or unsuccessful) transition to late life (and the final development stage concerning Ego-Integrity vs. Despair).
This Eriksonian stage has not received as much attention by psychologists as his earlier stages. However, there was a flurry of studies on Generativity done during the turn of the century decades (1990s and 2000s). These studies tended to focus on such Generativity-related issues as Mentoring of younger or less experienced members of one’s organization or community, the nurturing of special projects about which one deeply cares, and the creation of a Generative Society. Led by Dan McAdams and Ed de St. Aubin, these studies substantially enriched and expanded our understanding of the rich texture of Generative perspectives, values and practices as they are engaged in mid-life.
Expanding and Extending Generativity
Several other studies conducted during the first two decades of the 21st Century have further enriched and expanded our concept of Generativity. George Vaillant had been leading one of the longest lasting studies of adult development (the Grant Studies) for many years and published a book (Triumphs of Experience) in 2012 that focused on development during the senior years of life. In his description of guardianship during these later years, Vaillant seems to have identified a form of generativity that is engaged much later than during our mid-life years.
Another study conducted by Gary Quehl and myself further enriches our notions about Generativity. Based on interviews with both emerging and established senior community leaders in two Northern California towns (Grass Valley and Nevada City), Gary and I identified four ways in which Generativity is potentially engaged during one’s lifetime. As we noted in The Sages Among Us, each of these four ways tends to be engaged at specific times during our life. Apparently, Generativity is not confined to a specific set of activities or specific time in life. Generativity is Big and of Lifelong Concern!
Generativity and Coaching
This brief history of Generativity is being offered because it sets the stage (yes, another use of the stage metaphor). Specifically, it provides the background for our consideration of ways in which professional coaches might best appreciate and make use of concepts regarding Generativity in their work with clients at all stages of life. The state of Generativity is important for coaching clients to appreciate and set forth as one of the meta-goals in their life and work– especially when contrasted with a state of Stagnation in life. A professional coach is perfectly positioned to assist their clients in finding one or more of the four modes of Generativity in their interactions with colleagues, in the leadership they provide in their organization or community, and in the deep caring way in which they attend to those people and projects of greatest importance in their life.
We offer eighteen essays in this issue of The Future of Coaching that focus on the application of Generativity theory to the practice of professional coaching. Some of these essays have already appeared in the Library of Professional Coaching (LPC) or in the Library of Professional Psychology, our sister library. Other essays build on The Sages Among Us and excerpts from this book that have previously been published in LPC.
We divide this issue into Six sections: (1) Introduction to Generativity, (2) Generativity One, (3) Generativity Two, (4) Generativity Three, (5) Generativity Four, and (6) Nurturing of Generativity. You will note that many of the essays concern actions taken and coaching directed toward the greater good. This is the topic engaged in one of our previous issues of The Future of Coaching—from which we have borrowed several essays. It seems that Generativity is a key driving force in the initiation of projects for the Greater Good. Furthermore, Generativity is often “center stage” in the minds (and hearts) of coaching clients who are attending to this worthy meta-goal of achieving the Greater Good.
Introduction to Generativity
The stage of Generativity, like all of Erikson’s stages, requires that we make significant choices and take consequential actions. There is a pathway to Generativity and a Pathway to Stagnation. With the guidance of a professional coach, one can make the difficult decisions and take an often-challenging pathway to a life of vitality and purpose.
Coaching at the Generative Crossroads of Deep Caring
This essay provides an introduction to the topic of Generativity–beginning with the state of Michael Corleone as he stares out over Lake Tahoe. Here at the end of his life (and the end of the Godfather series of movies) we find a state of stagnation being vividly portrayed. Other images of stagnation — and generativity–are offered along with the introduction of four modes of generativity.
Searching for Vitality: Coaching through the Lens of Adult Development Theory and Research
Research on adult development strongly suggests that competence and productivity do not significantly decline as a function of age. Understanding the characteristics of productive members of an organization, whatever their age, can help one as a coach encourage and guide clients in new directions or toward changes in their organization that facilitate vitality.
The Social and Cultural Characteristics of Generational Age Groups
Differences in perspective and values might result not from age differences but instead from the specific environment in which one was raised. This is the first time in American history that four generations occupy the same life space. The cohorts of each generational grouping have their own general characteristics, including significant events that have shaped their lives. They also have different views on work, leadership, communication, political and consumer values, and civic engagement.
Generativity One
In this initial section, we turn to the first mode of Generativity. It concerns the deep caring we show for children and for special projects that we undertake. The following essays concern this mode and the implications of Generativity One for the practice of professional coaching (especially as directed toward initialization and management of projects).
Setting the Stage and Generativity One
In this essay, the authors begin by addressing a key question: how does Generativity relate to the other major stages of development? They then turn to the first mode of generativity and focus on deep caring for specific projects and the ways in which to coach to these projects.
Coaching for the Greater Good: Interview with Bill Carrier and Alex Petroff
This essay consists of a recorded interview conducted with Bill Carrier, a successful leadership coach, and his exceptional client, Alexander Petroff, who headed a program for many years directed toward lifting people in the Eastern Congo out of poverty.
If professional coaching is for people in transition and for employees who work in organizations that are in transition, then the coaching of young adult is certainly appropriate—for young clients are inevitably in transition. This brief essay concerns the challenge (and opportunity) of coaching the young adult.
Generativity Two
This second mode is the one most often identified with the processes of Generativity. It primarily concerns the mentoring of new employees or less experienced employees in an organization and working with young people in one’s local community. What are the best ways in which to support these generative activities as a professional coach?
Expanding Perspectives, Expanding Actions and Generativity Two
Consideration is first given in this essay to the question: What is Generativity and how is it to be distinguished from Stagnation? The authors then turn to their own research findings, relying primarily on the 100 interviews conducted with community leaders in two California communities. They also rely on their own experiences as coaches and consultants to clients who are now mentoring or considering taking on a mentoring role in their organization.
Building the Bridge: Inter-Generational Generativity
This essay begins with an interesting portrait of vivid and vital conversations that can occur between young people and old people. This conversation is to be found in abundance among grandparents and grandchildren, among senior mentors and newly-minted mentees, and among those who reach across age groups to assist others who are in need—regardless of their age (old helping young and young helping old).
Nancy Strojny: Mentoring for the Greater Good
In this interview-based essay, four Generativity initiatives are identified by Ms. Strojny: (1) mentoring of individuals, (2) mentoring and training of SCORE mentors, (3) honoring and celebrating the contributions made by SCORE mentors in the Portland Maine community, and (4) envisioning the sharing of SCORE expertise with other organizations inside and outside the United States — all for the greater good.
Generativity Three
This is the mode of Generativity that is most closely associated with the work of George Vaillant. It concerns the expansion of deep care in time–into the past and future. In what ways should a professional coach assist a client who is seeking to preserve and serve as guardian for traditions, as well as those leaning and leading into the future?
Roles, Voices, Heritage and Generativity Three
This essay concerns the challenging transition that most of us undergo as men and women between 50 and 70 years of age. We start listening to voices from various rooms in our psyche that have remained mute for many years. These voices often lead us to Generativity Three and the wish to honor and guard the past and future.
Coaching on Behalf of the Environment
This interview-based essay focuses on the work of Don Maruska, a noted author, consultant and coach who directs much of his time, energy and expertise to a foundational interest in the preservation of our threatened environment. Through coaching, we can enhance our response to what needs to be done in our communities—and in our world—regarding complex environmental challenges.
Our Autumnal Years: Coming Back Home
Representing three cultures, the authors of this essay note that we have the opportunity during our Autumnal years to acknowledge and assure continuation of that which remains good and relevant from our past, while preparing for that which is changing. We can relish the rich moments that remind us of that which is best and most distinctive in our past life and apply our understanding of these moments to our future life.
Generativity Four
This fourth mode of Generativity concerns expansion of deer caring in space—serving the local community or beyond. Building on the interview-based research done by Gary Quehl and myself on civic engagement, this section concerns the role to be played by professional coaches in assisting clients with this engagement process.
The Big Picture, Civic Engagement and Generativity Four
Through their interviews with community leaders, the two authors of this essay came to realize that Generativity is about extending the space into a broader community and ensuring that a legacy is expanded, embedded, and preserved in this community. Generativity Four is about building something new for the future by advancing civic welfare in one’s current community.
Coaching For the Greater Good: Interview with Ruth Ann Harnisch
This interview-based essay is conducted with Ruth Ann Harnisch. As one of the legendary stewards of the professional coaching field. Harnisch notes that she works every day to apply her money and her moxie to the biggest problem in the world – untapped capacity. “I want to help people discover how much they’ve got and how to make the most of it for themselves and for others.”
The Intentional Design of Stewardship: A Case Study
Goodwin Watson once identified three domains in which change can take place: structure, process, and attitude/culture. Eventually, all three must be engaged if change is to be sustained. The authors suggest that these three domains apply when considering stewardship of any profession or human service field. The two authors are particularly interested in the emerging profession of coaching. With some of their colleagues, they have sought to “steward” this profession in several ways over the past decade.
Nurturing Generativity
How do we help our clients identify and build on their own personal generativity motives? What pushes them forward on behalf of their deep caring needs? In what ways might a professional coach also assist their clients to identify ways in which their organization or community are pulling them toward generative activities? What do deep caring relationships look like? How might the work of a professional coach complement the creation of a Generative Society in which deep caring prospers?
Nurturing Generativity and Deep Caring
It is important to seek the origins of generativity inside an individual’s psyche as well as the environment or context in which generativity is nurtured. In their California study, the authors found that generativity is encouraged (if not created) by one’s community. Much as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to bring out the multiple roles of generativity in oneself. This exploration of generativity both inside and outside a person is essential when coaching someone regarding the way(s) in which and reasons why they care deeply.
A New Core Anchor for a Different Voice: Connection
The author of this essay notes that when she is connected to people, when she belongs to a group, she feels a sense of purpose and meaning. Her core anchor is Connection: The author suggests that many human service providers may have a deep need to connect with others. Furthermore, connection is a core value for many women. As Carol Gilligan suggests, Western males and females are socialized differently, and females are more likely to focus on community and care about personal relationships.
Coaching As a Conduit for the Greater Good
The basic purpose of coaching is to support the growth and development of an individual client or a team. The type of growth sought is almost always perceived as a potential source for a positive outcome. Thus, ‘coaching for the greater good’ is naturally implicit in the basic act of coaching. The author suggests that there are four experiences for which coaching is a beacon: mindfulness, development, transformation –and generativity.
I hope that you find this exploration of deep caring and Generativity to be a source of insight and guidance for you in your work with clients as a professional coach—and in your own life and work as one who cares about other people.
William Bergquist Ph.D.
Editor