Honoring
We are guardians in yet another way. We guard the memory of a specific person, group of people, or event by setting aside a day or product in recognition of the contribution that has been made. We have the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Other countries similarly honor their fallen warriors or leaders with holidays, often associated with the engagement of other acts of Generativity Three that we have identified (ceremonies, consecrations, gatherings, and storytelling). Thanks to greeting card companies, we are also frequently in the business of honoring people we love—most notably our mothers and fathers.
At a more personal level, we honor people in our lives when we celebrate their birthday, the day of their naming, their lifetime achievements, or their retirement. This a form of generativity that can valuable insights about personal values and interpersonal relations if explored with a professional coach. One of our four Featured Players, Dan, provided an award each year to a professor who had been particularly successful in working with students: “An example of Guardianship was the Professor of the Year Award that I annually presented when I was president of a large university. This annual award was presented to university professor who most exemplified the legacy and values of teaching excellence.” As Dan notes, this award is intended to honor an individual faculty member and to reinforce a legacy and set of values about teaching excellence. As in the case of all forms of Generativity Three, the ultimate goal is to preserve and guard that about which we truly care.
It is not just great teaching that is being honored by generative educational leaders like Dan. Other members of higher educational institutions often honor colleagues by preparing something called a Festschrift—a book that gives tribute to a respected person is presented during his or her lifetime. Typically, scholars or researchers who were mentored by the respected colleague collaborate on writing essays that are in some way aligned with the ideas and work of their respected colleague. There is hardly any other honor bestowed on an intellectual leader that is treasured as much as a festschrift.
We find an even grander honoring ceremony operating in Major League Baseball. One game each year is set aside to honor Jackie Robinson, the first African American to participate in major league baseball and often acknowledged as a brave door-opener for integration in many other sectors of American life. All major baseball players on this day wear Jackie Robinson’s number (42). Speeches are often delivered before or during the game, reminding us what Jackie Robinson meant for American society (blending the Generativity Three roles of honoring and storytelling).
Moments of honoring that are unexpected may have an even greater impact than those anticipated. We are reminded of This is Your Life, a radio (and later TV) program during which the host (Ralph Edwards) surprised a specific person with an entire program devoted to their life history and accomplishments; important people in their life came on stage to share stories about the honored person’s life. Queen for a Day was another surprise honoring program from the earlier days of radio and television. These were often very emotional and inspiring programs. They taught us about not just this individual’s life, but also how one might live an honorable and generative life.
