"May you live all the days of you life," said Jonathan Swift. How often
we wish that for our clients, for those close to us and for ourselves, and yet
how hard this can sometimes seem in today’s organizational world.
We worked together for almost a year, my client, a vice president in
financial services, and I. We will call her Karen. It began when Karen
sensed problems with her current organization, which was recently acquired
by a regional competitor. Her extensive experience and knowledge of
the industry meant little in the political mayhem that followed the
acquisition. It was no surprise when she lost her job about two months
after we met. There followed a time of introspection, some self-recrimination,
and some depression.
We explored Karen’s aspirations in depth and she began to realize
that a new life could come out of this loss. This new life could offer
Karen the expression of her natural gifts in her work, the opportunity
to join an organization that matched her values and relocation to a
place that she and her husband desired. In short, it could provide
alignment of who she was with how she worked and lived. Or as Brewi
and Brennan (Mid-Life Psychological and Spiritual Perspectives,
1989) describe it, "the spirit within us, found in the core of
our own Selves . . . slowly and painfully weaves its way through anxiety,
confusion, tension and conflict to hear the rhythm of our own personal
tune made up of choices and values that are truly our own. This becomes
our great contribution to the world."
So with growing elation and some anxiety, over the following months,
Karen gradually developed a finely tuned sense of who she was and where
she could best express this. It was no surprise when she identified
an organization that valued her innovative and slightly irreverent
style. It was in the location she wanted and it needed her knowledge
and expertise. So they came together, Karen and the organization, and
they crafted a path forward that was better for both of them – one
that was fulfilling for Karen and that generated value for the organization.
They crafted a path forward based on mutual affiliation.
Now, what is unusual about this story? Certainly not her job loss.
In the 1980s, 90s and 2000s downsizing has been a corporate mantra.
Nor was it the roller coaster of emotions that Karen felt as time passed.
These are natural responses to this traumatic event. The unusual aspect
is the extent to which Karen was able to completely redefine her life
and find alignment where there was little previously. Part of this
alignment was affiliation with an organization, a community, which
shared her values. Part of it was a rebalancing of her life to meet
her spiritual, psychological and practical needs. This was a transforming
experience, which led to a fundamental re-expression of her humanity.
And for the organization that was fortunate to employ her? Here we
see the seeds of transformation due to the infusion of her new ideas
expressed through her engagement and commitment.
This illustrates principles that guide the choices made by individuals
for themselves and for their organizations. As Izzo and Withers indicate
(Values Shift, 2000), "when 1,000 working adults were asked
whether they would rather earn high salaries or earn ‘enough’ doing
work that makes the world a better place, 86% chose the latter." Selling
(out) to the highest bidder was not acceptable. Izzo and Withers also
quote David Packard, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, as saying "I
think people assume, wrongly, that a company exists solely to make
money. Money is an important part of a company’s existence, if
the company is any good. But a result is not a cause. We have to go
deeper and find the real reason for our being. . . . [A] group of people
get together and exist as an institution that we call a company, so
that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could
not accomplish separately – they make a contribution to society." So
it is not just about money for the organization either.
Put another way, how can we avoid an ethical lobotomy in establishing
an organizational perspective? Lynn Rhodes, from the Pacific School
of Religion in Berkeley, California, poses three questions that get
to the heart of the individual, organizational and community issues.
These questions challenge us to consider fundamental values in wrestling
with the tensions inherent in the relationships between individuals,
organizations and communities. The questions are as follows:
- How do we as a community honor work that sustains
and supports our lives?
- How do we support each person in expressing
the unique gifts they have to offer?
- How do we integrate
meeting our individual aspirations with
seeking the common good?
Acknowledging and responding to
such questions will ask much of us as career counselors,
and of our clients. We will need courage to:
- Honor values that ennoble others and build
strength and affiliation in organizations
and communities.
- Support organizations in meeting the diverse
needs of each segment of their workforce.
- Look beyond today to the needs of tomorrow
so that the legacies left by our organizations
and communities are legacies for generations
to come.
- Know and respect the various constituencies
that are part of the extended organizational
and community families.
- Balance equitably the needs of these constituencies,
knowing that in so doing some will find fault.
As career counselors we have an opportunity to be advocates for a new,
brave organizational world in which each person is respected,
in which partnerships are built and in which local and global
communities are strengthened. And that voice needs to be heard.
Much of this article is extracted from Affiliation
in the Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization (Praeger,
2003) by Ron Elsdon, a book describing approaches to integrate the
needs of the individual with the needs of the organization for the
benefit of both.
Ron Elsdon, Ph.D. (Elsdon Organizational Renewal, www.elsdon.com) specializes in the career and workforce
development fields, providing individual coaching and career counseling,
organizational consulting, public speaking, publishing and lecturing.
Ron has more than 25 years of leadership experience at diverse organizations
in a broad range of sectors. His areas of responsibility have included
career counseling and coaching, human resource consulting, workforce
development, general management for portfolios of growing businesses
and management of business development, marketing and research and
development. Ron has been an adjunct faculty member at several universities.
He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge,
a Master’s degree in Career Development from John F. Kennedy University,
and a first class honors degree in Chemical Engineering from Leeds
University.
