For the last two years I have been focused on single women in mid-career who are frustrated at work, and longing for a family. I now see something much bigger. It’s not that this group is not important. I was in that group, and I know from personal experience how important it is to shake things up. When I say something bigger I mean this:
In the last 50 years, our society has undergone massive change. Where once finishing college (for men), finding a good job, marrying and moving back to the town you grew up in was the formula for moving into adulthood, things have changed. We’ve had civil rights, feminism, geographic movement, globalization and technology, and divorce and layoffs on a mass scale. In short, our very foundations have been irreparably shaken.
At the same time, academia, Corporate America and the Baby Boomer generation have been slow to respond. The corporate hierarchy that was developed by Henry Ford and depression and war era executives has barely evolved. The vision of marriage as the answer to one’s personal life is a firm as ever. As such, we are expected to do well in school, get the best job we can, eventually marry, and just be happy. And herein lies the rub…
So how do we evolve? My feeling is that by looking inward we find two things. One is our personal values, the ideals that drive us. The second is an organic rhythm that all humans share. The rhythm relies on recognizing our need for support and acknowledgement, being open to healthy communication that lets us honor ourselves and others, and pacing ourselves in a way that is sustainable.
I believe that coaching is a powerful tool towards this evolution. One at a time, we can find ways to make small changes that allow us to evolve the system without endangering its basic functioning. One at a time, we can come to a bigger collective happiness.
