Generativity and the Greater Good: The Life and Work of Two Professional Coaches

Often our generative interests in collaboration and teaching are melded into a single plan. We co-teach with someone who is younger or less experienced. We invite a younger colleague to join with us in consulting another organization or within our own organization. These can be some of the most enjoyable and gratifying encounters that we will experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s teaching about woodwork with a younger colleague at a local community center, coaching boys and girls on a little league team, coordinating a technical training program for line supervisors in a company, or conducting weekly case conferences with new associates in a law firm. It’s all about Generativity Two.

When in a state of stagnation, we tend to isolate the younger generation, often viewing young people as rivals and potential usurpers of the throne. When in a state of generativity, we welcome the younger generation and help to prepare them for new leadership. I am reminded of a trip I took to the French Quarter in New Orleans many years ago. I went to Maison Bourbon to hear Wallace Davenport, a legendary jazz musician. While Davenport was playing, the “racket” (hard rock music) from across the street was invading the beautiful soulful sounds emitted by Wallace’s quartet. I went up to Davenport after his set was finished and commented negatively about the quality of music coming from across the street. Davenport cut me off and declared with considerable passion that hard rock music was the future and he was delighted that this music was there, across the street. Davenport could have resented the intrusion and competition. Instead, he chose to be generative, appreciating and supporting the arrival of this new music. I was the curmudgeon—not Davenport!

There is a third way in which generativity is expressed—what George Vaillant (2012, p. 155) identifies as guardianship:

Guardians are caretakers. They take responsibility for the cultural values and riches from which we all benefit, offering their concern beyond specific individuals to their culture as a whole; they engage a social radius that extends beyond their immediate personal surroundings.