Generativity and the Deep Caring of Professional Coaching

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.