The Origins of Generativity in Spirit and Soul
Alongside the distal pull toward a generative society, resides the proximal processes of spirit and soul. These sources of generativity reside at deep and personal level. We propose that Generativity is ultimately about more than child-rearing, organizational leadership, mentoring, preservation of traditions, and civic engagement. It is about something transformational. At the heart of the matter are two proximal forms of Generativity that women and men often experience during the middle years of their life: Generativity of Spirit and Generativity of Soul.To better understand the direction in which we are taking this final analysis of generativity and in which a professional coach might take their generative work with a lient, we wish to distinguish between these two forms of generativity.
Spirit is about achievement and about lifting upward. It is the form of generativity that was identified earlier as Agency. It is about the joy that comes with accomplishment and recognition. It concerns our discovery of higher order truths and our commitment to higher order values that motivate our collaborative work with other people in our family, in our organizations, and in our community. This generativity ensures that our presence is felt in the world. It often serves as a bridge between Generativity One and Generativity Two.
Generativity of Soul is about coming home and discovering what is already there and what should be valued. It is the form of generativity that was identified earlier as Communion. Generativity of the soul is about tending not just to matters of the organization we lead; it is about tending to sick or dying parents. It is about protecting those people that we love and the projects we have begun under Generativity One. It is about guardianship and heritage. Generativity of the soul often serves as a bridge between Generativity Three and Generativity Four.
Generativity of the Spirit
One of our Senior Sage leaders identified the essence of Spirited Generativity: “Two-thirds of my life is gone, and I don’t want to do anything now that doesn’t feed my spirit. I haven’t for a long time. Anytime I’ve tried to, it has never worked out.” Energized by the Generativity of Spirit we soar upward, like Icarus. We reach the highest point in our career, the highest point of status and influence in our communities. We know that our generative initiatives have made a difference. We are in danger of the seduction of power and narcissistic concern for personal recognition.
We may find ourselves framing out world in a dualistic frame. Everything is either right or wrong, good or bad. Coming out of a position of power and influence, we may foolishly think that we have “discovered” truth, when in fact we simply have the status and power to define what truth is and how it will be judged in our family, organization, or community. In the movie, Network, Paddy Chayefsky offers a penetrating analysis of contemporary corporate life and communications. He portrays a world in which those in power primarily define the truth. These powerful figures are predominantly white males.
Yet, Chayefsky also notes that the new power elite is increasingly likely to come from non-western nations (in particular, oil-rich countries). Icarus doesn’t soar for long. Chayefsky observes how precarious one’s position is at the top, particularly concerning a grasp of the truth. His protagonist, Howard Beale, struggles throughout the movie with what truth really is and how easily it is manufactured. Beale encourages all people to stand up against the manufactured truth yet seems always to be swayed left and right to different versions of the reality that are presented to him by other powerful men and very masculine women—in particular the Faye Dunaway character.
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