We are What we Do. Or Not?Teaching and Coaching Practices and Tools in
Addressing New Forms of
Poverty and Injustice.Dr. Kenneth Mias
Dr. Giovanna CzanderDominican College of Blauvelt, NY
A New Form of Poverty and Injustice
- 44% of graduates had jobs that didn’t require a college degree (2012)
- Our culture leads us to identify with our careers
Who are we Becoming?(The Subjective Dimension of Work)
Watch your thoughtsthey become words.Watch your words
they become actions.Watch your actionsthey become habits.Watch your habits
they become character.Watch your character
It becomes your destiny.
“Wojtvla was enormously interested in another person … he tried to accompany someone in their problems … he was open to revealing the humanity of another.”
George Weigel, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II – The Victory of Freedom, The Last Years, the Legacy,
Focus on The Whole Person
“ … Wojtyla never pressed … the stress was always on personal responsibility – you can decide because you are capable of knowing the truth.”
”…. It was all a matter of “meeting someone wisely” ……”
Teaching and Advising Tools
• The Journey
• Culture Model
• Reflection
Tool 1 - The Journey
Labyrinth or Maze?
What am I WORKING
for ?(WORK)
What am I RESTING for? (LEISURE)
What am I LIVING for?
(INTEGRATION)
Job(Getting
)
Amusement(Escape)
Gratification(Having)
Career(Taking)
Function(Using)
Achievement(Doing)
Vocation(Giving)
Contemplation(Receiving)
Integrity(Being)
Tool 2 - Beyond Career to Calling*
* Dr. Michael Naughton - Director, John A. Ryan Institute at Univ. of St. Thomas
Work as
CareerPsychological Rewards (intrinsic motivations): self esteem,
creativity, autonomous; personally satisfying (inherent values of work)
Productivity, Control and Competence Oriented
Career as a “vehicle” - to get from here to there – the next step
Leisure as FunctionRest is justified “to sharpen the saw” in order to be more
productive
Sunday Afternoon Neurosis versus The Sabbath (the value of real rest)
Integration as AchievementIdentity focused on achievements and competition
Careerism: Doing over Being
Work as Vocation“Vocare” – to “call”; a calling to give (transcendent
motives):
To Be Human (Being)
To a State in Life (Belonging)
To a Particular Way of Work (Doing)
Work as Giving of OurselvesOur gifts as reflected in a different set of motives:
From “Utility Maximizers” to Distributors of Justice
From “Human Resources or Capital” to Human Dignity
From Private Wealth to Common Goods
Catholic Social Principles at Work
Leisure as
ContemplationWe cannot give what we do not have, or have not
received.
An act of “Receivement” based on habits of:
Solitude; Celebration; Service.
Not escape from the world, but to see it as it is.
Integration as IntegrityIntegritas — to be whole, complete, unimpaired, not just
balanced, but centered
Different roles in life but the same person!
Level 5 Leadership – Great Resolve & Humility
Identity, Meaning, Purpose
Work as Vocation and Leisure as Contemplation provides the capacity for
Integration!
The Journey: Means versus Ends
Tool 3 - Model of Culture*
Assumptions & Beliefs
Values
Behaviors
Norms
Artifacts
Invisible
Visible
* Adapted from the work of Dr. Edgar Schein – Prof. Emeritus at M.I.T. Sloan.
Model of Culture
Assumptions & Beliefs
Values
Behaviors
Norms
Artifacts
Why?Because
Educating the Whole Person
Teaching Coaching
Journey
Tool 3 - Reflection
Questions
What’s in it for me?
PRESENT MOMENT
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
INTERACTIONS
Coaching PracticesThe Framework Components:• The Whole Person• The Journey • Job-Career-Vocation Framework • Culture Model
The Practical Components:• Transcripts; Resumes; Accomplishments• Psychological Surveys: Big Five; MBTI• Work-related Skills: Time Management; Setting
Priorities; Communication; Stress Management• Decision Making and Discernment Skills• Story Telling and Reflection Skills
In Summary:
Meeting the whole person where they are
Accompanying them along their journey
Rising above the objective injustices
Discovery, Searching, Path-finding
Meaning, Purpose, Mission, Identity
“God created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it fully in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow, I am necessary to His purposes…I am a link in a chain, a bond of
connection between persons. He has not created me for naught” - John Henry Newman
“The Glory of God is a Human Being Fully Alive”
– St. Iraeneus of Lyon
“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole
world ablaze!” - St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor
of the Church