Families that are successful over generations are families that have a strong sense of collective identity.Family members know what it means to be part of the family and much of this identity is rooted in values.These values endure across generations and while they shift in particular expression, the foundational values remain relatively constant at their core.In his groundbreaking work Values Shift, Brian Hall delves into the relationship between values and development, making the case that values shift in groups through dynamic interplay between leadership and skills building based on the history and aspiration of the group as it seeks to meet basic human needs.Hall suggests that leadership in groups evolves from autocratic to benevolent to managerial to empowering to collaborative to visionary.Those who follow these leaders within a family system move commensurately from oppressed to dependent to autonomous to creative to interdependent to catalytic.Even through these rather dramatic shifts of leadership and followership, the historic values peek through and create an enduring legacy.
This rubric gives terrific clues as to the leadership style in play in a family. If children are dependent, then the leadership is probably “benevolent”. If children are highly individuated, creative and engaged, the family leadership is most likely empowering. Families upshift through these cycles of leadership and followship by paying attention to core family identity and developing deeper skill sets that allow for greater range of motion. As these shift, family identity expands and with that expansion, the family can see more possibilities for growth and development.
Questions:
- Are there people you know who reflect these differing leadership styles?
- What do you see happening in their families?
Values:A Key to Family Identity
Families that are successful over generations are families that have a strong sense of family identity.Family members know what it means to be part of the family and much of this identity is rooted in values.These values endure across generations and while they shift in particular expression, the foundational values remain relatively constant at their core.In his groundbreaking work Values Shift, Brian Hall delves into the relationship between values and development, making the case that values shift in groups through dynamic interplay between leadership and skills building based on the history and aspiration of the group as it seeks to meet basic human needs.Hall suggests that leadership in groups evolves from autocratic to benevolent to managerial to empowering to collaborative to visionary.Those who follow within the family system move commensurately from oppressed to dependent to autonomous to creative to interdependent to catalytic.Even through these rather dramatic shifts of leadership and followership, the historic values peek through and create an enduring legacy.
Questions:
1.Are there people you know who reflect these differing leadership styles?
2.What do you see happening in their families?