We enter into relationships with authority figures right from our earliest years – from our parents and caregivers, to teachers and coaches, and eventually into our workplaces. In this episode, Pete and Jason zoom into the characterological dynamics of a thriving work environment, and what it truly takes to help someone become the best version of themselves and how these efforts ultimately benefit the team.
Summary
How we view authority and how we handle the responsibility of leadership have a profound impact on culture beyond the walls of the workplace; and yet not everyone readily sees the benefit of having an integrated sense of self in the areas they inhabit. Pete and Jason recount stories from their own life experiences: from reckless decision making in blue-collar jobsites to coaching their sons through the continued pursuit of their interests, regardless of their level of excellence. They cover topics around agency and fostering creativity, convergent and divergent thinking, and the long-term effects of authoritarian behaviours and micromanaging. Centering on the development of human character, as well as engaging in right-brain conversations amidst a left-brain oriented society, Pete and Jason discuss what it takes in order to change the cultural landscape and truly foster healthy and thriving workplaces.
Speakers Bio
Pete White is the founder of Vocatio, an organization focused on restoring character and calling to the center of human life. Drawing from a wealth of life experiences – from his work as a carpenter in blue-collar environments, volunteering in homeless shelters, to nearly two decades as a therapist in private practice – Pete encountered the deep brokenness of the human experience in lives oriented away from the heart of God. He witnessed firsthand the fractures caused by addictions, poverty of mind, body, and spirit, broken relationships, and crises in identity and authenticity. His encounters have ignited in him a deep desire to see healing and wholeness, steeped in love, to the world around him. Today, Pete accompanies individuals and organizations in the process of clarifying purpose and life-calling, recovering their vocation as life-as-craft.
Jason Jensen is the founding partner and CEO of Glass Canvas. He has set the tone for radical pursuit of the way of Jesus in every area of our business, leading with vulnerability, intentionality, and pursuit of the human heart. His personal mission is to help increase the accompaniment capacity of the Church, and he does so with his gifts of being with individuals and leaders to help draw them into an integrated Christian imagination. Jason leads the formation direction and overall vision of Glass Canvas.
Resources for you
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
by Iain McGilchrist
Order from Amazon
The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning
by Iain McGilchrist
Order from Amazon (Kindle version)
Timestamps
0:30 How to inhabit work, address ‘authority’ in the workplace
01:15 What to do when your insights do not align with your boss
03:00 We deal with authority early on, with caregivers
06:25 “Employers don’t have a mandate to be nice.”
08:20 The characterological dynamics of human life: a.k.a., the character of the person we encounter and the character that we bring to our neighbours
09:00 People don’t become”wonderful selves” by accident
11:10 Blue collar male hierarchy of authority
14:10 The masculine impulse towards harshness is a form of testing, even unconsciously, to identify weak links (especially in blue-collar environments)
15:20 The difference between initiation vs. hazing
17:35 How you face these moments will have an enormous effect on what is brought on to you for the rest of your life… you will be formed by this experience
19:10 Eliminating (risk) from young people in our pre-emptively protective culture
19:54 Meeting adversity and keeping composure in the midst of difficulty
20:50 Conflating power and authority: implementation of force vs. knowing how to hold the potential
22:04 Agency: the ability to choose, but do I actually have a choice here?
24:08 Pete’s 50-foot reckless decision: a recipe for disaster
27:00 What a man should have done in such a situation
28:28 If you prove that you can handle it, more of it will come until you speak up
30:35 Mentorship as a fruit of the decision of how Pete faced how he was tested
32:19 Not surrendering your dignity
37:19 Everything always goes back to character
37:33 What do you do when you’re faced with a moral dilemma?
40:33 Naming what we’re scared of… in order to unlock creativity and identify humanity behind tasks
44:20 Examples in authority figures in the classroom
46:05 How micromanaging can stifle creativity and individual genius
46:30 Left and Right Brain insight by Iain McGilchrist: “We’ve constructed a left-brained society”, and the oppression of the demand to think in convergent ways
50:00 We can act as orphans – acting in the absence of the guarantee of providence – but there are no orphans in the plan
54:25 The fruit of establishing a clearing for divergent thinking
56:20 A garden analogy; we're meant to inhabit ourselves and our places of work in ways that benefit the work creatively
58:45 Collaboration (co-labouring) vs. competition
01:01:30 Martial arts arenas: competition leveraged for good as collective growth
01:07:10 Jason’s childhood rugby meritorious participation (when you can’t win in a standard way)
01:10:50 Jason’s interaction with son’s pursuit of chess expertise
01:13:51 Vocation as additive (vs. competitive) - helping you become more you
01:16:10 A right-brain reflection to a left-brain demand
01:18:20 For employers: how to affect employee investment in the workplace
01:26:12 What sort of ‘self’ are you going to become as an authority figure?
01:29:00 Nobody benefits if humanity is lost
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