When you ask people what it is like being part of a great team, what is most striking is the meaningfulness of the experience. People talk about being part of something larger than themselves, of being connected, of being generative. It becomes quite clear that, for many, their experiences as part of truly great teams stand out as singular periods of life lived to the fullest. — Peter Senge
Peter Senge is noted for his work on new ways of thinking (the fifth discipline) and differing modes of collective learning (the learning organization) (Senge, 1990). At the heart (and mind) of Senge’s perspective is the concept of being connected. Of being generative. Of finding collective as well as personal sources of Worth. I would broaden the perspective offered by Senge. I believe that interpersonal connection and generativity are founded in a commitment to deep caring. We discover what we care about and then care deeply about this matter in collaboration with other people who share this commitment.
I further propose that deep caring, intertwined with interpersonal connection and generativity, is a choice we make repeatedly throughout the life we live. Many choices are available to each of us during a lifetime. Multiple priorities emerge at different times during specific developmental periods. These choices and priorities can lead us to a self-renewing life or to stagnation and decline. Many decisions we make concern the way and extent to which we care about other people. These decisions concern how we take care of our heritage. We also must decide if and when we will engage in caring actions on behalf of our community. We repeatedly make choices and set priorities that impact the enhancement of Personal and Collective Worth. This essay focuses on these critical matters. What are the decisions we make about deep caring?
Our life is rarely free of challenge. We may suffer from the wounds of betrayal and alienation—in some ways, the violation of our aspirations and dreams. Our life covenant. However, we still have a chance to turn toward new purposes. We can shift from the wounded leader to the generative teacher. We can be transformed from the person who was left behind to the person who is helping a new generation lead the way into the future. Though we may have lost the opportunity to play an active role in parenting a child, a second form of parenting is available in abundance during late midlife.
We can be parents to our organizations, people we serve as mentors, and young people in our community. We can savor the joys of caring for our grandchildren and become valuable volunteers in nonprofit organizations. We can “parent” an idea, a collective aspiration, a vision of the future. Just as life seems to take away opportunities for active leadership, public recognition, and parenting, it offers a second opportunity for new forms of parenting. Erik Erikson (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick, 1986, p. 37) describes this expanding notion of parenting and generativity as “a vital strength of care [and as] a widening concern for what has been generated by love, necessity, or accident; it overcomes the ambivalence arising from irreversible obligation. Thus, [it] attends to the needs of all that has been generated.”
