King Arthur: The Search for Generativity
I set the stage for our exploration of generativity by attending the life of a legendary leader at the end of his life. He was a leader who I believe needed some expert coaching on behalf of the Greater Good. This leader was King Arthur. At the beginning and ending of the Lerner and Loew musical Camelot, we see King Arthur preparing for battle against Lancelot, his dearest friend (and adversary). Arthur is beaten down and has lost any sense of purpose or meaning in life. Arthur is reflecting, in despair, on the broken state of his kingdom. His beloved round table lay in ruins. His code of chivalry was no longer relevant. At the high point of Arthurian glory, everyone in the realm was proclaiming: “Right makes might. Not might makes right!” Now this pronouncement seemed to be a relic of the pass. Arthur breaks out of his depression only when a young boy, Tom of Warwick, is discovered by Arthur. Tom displays his own fervent commitment to the roundtable and code. Arthur commands the boy to return home: “Run boy run.” He sends the boy away so that the tales of Camelot “might not be forgot.”
For Arthur it is all about legacy. He wants Tom to escape and return home so that Camelot might continue. In essence, Arthur is exemplifying our need for generativity. This need centers on two primarily factors. The first is Heritage. Generativity is about extending our presence and influence with our own children, with the next generation, and with our community. We become gardeners of vision and aspiration. We carefully tend this garden. We want the flowers, trees and plants of vision and aspiration to live long after we do.
John Kotre suggested that generativity is “a desire to invest one’s substance on forms of life and work that will outlive the self.” (Kotre, 1984, p. 10) It is quite understandable and appropriate that Kotre identifies this wish for some form of immortality as a key motivator for generative action. This wish represents, in some important and tangible way, the manner in which we make an appearance on this earth. We want the garden to grow because it reassures us that we have made a difference. The abundant garden that Arthur has tended can now be restored by Tom, as a representative of the next generation and of other young men and women who witnessed this “one, brief shining moment of glory that was known as Camelot!”
There is a second primary factor in understanding the path to generativity. The second factor is Discernment. Generativity is about caring for that about which one truly cares. Discernment is about focus and caring attention. We can’t attend equally to every flower in the garden; we must determine which of the flowers we care about most and then devote deep, caring attention to them. In life, we must identify those few things about which we truly care. This is what generativity is all about. We want to touch the important people in our lives and accomplish things that leave a lasting impression. We want to know that in some way we have secured our immortality. Professional coaching is ultimately about both heritage and discernment—especially if it is intended for advancement of the Greater Good.
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