Who owns development?

A fascinating conversation the other day in the leadership development space.

Manager A argued that the organisation needed to identify and map out her career pathway and then provide the supporting structure and mechanisms to pave this road.

Manager B countered that her development sat with her and her alone. If the organisation wasn’t providing the tools for a pathway she identified, then walk, find an organisation that did. 

Adapting slightly, A said OK, it’s on me to identify the role I want, but it still needs to be from options generated by the organisation and their vision. I am part of the bigger picture.

B, not adapting at all, the bigger picture is you. There are plenty of organisations, plenty of pathways. Up to you to find your way. Agency sits with you.

Collective vs individual. One of the primary axes of behaviour preferences in the Cultural Intelligence (CQ) framework, as in most culture models.

B’s individualistic approach talks to a focus on autonomy, that personal development is geared towards leveraging your own potential in pursuit of your unique identity. The goal is self-sufficiency and self-actualisation. Every step on the path is attributed to your own effort and choices. Independent B looks at A and goes, What a victim, blaming everyone else for not having her own agency.

A’s collectivist approach talks to social harmony, a place for everyone in building communal welfare. We are guided and mentored in our growth so as to serve the community. The accountability for the success of our personal development sits with this community. Interdependent A looks at B and goes, What a selfish egotist, doing his own thing whatever the cost or use to anyone else. 

“Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” Dalai Lama

The conversation is usually more nuanced, a little more indirect, a little greyer. Being Britishly indirect and grey, I ended up steering it that way as the facilitator. Yet I’m an executive and leadership coach, a profession that has grown out of the individualistic end of this axis. Everything we do is founded on individuals owning their development and making their own choices for their own success. Coachees have agency.

Yes, we recognise in our agreed action planning that there will need to be supporting resources (i.e. other humans).

Yes, there is a nod to the belief that we are not islands and our choices have wider consequences.

Yes, there is growing awareness that the most effective work happens in the interdependent relational space between individuals. 

Yes, if we scan more widely, we see individual success doesn’t tend to generate societal, let alone planetary success.

But then we go back to the mantra that everyone owns their development. Our destiny sits in our hands. 

Back in the day, we’d have probably looked to national / ethnic differences on this one. In the West, they typically…. In the East, they typically… Something tells me there’s more of a generational shift happening here. 

Time to review the paradigm? Time for a step or two along the axis? 

I, I and I, I and Thou, We are still learning. 

Julian

Leadership and Culture

www.orangecairns.com