By Judi Neal, Ph.D., Founder, Edgewalkers International
This is the third in our series about the five Archetypes of Change – Edgewalkers, Flamekeepers, Hearthtenders, Placeholders and Guardians. Today we focus on Hearthtenders.
We all have a complicated relationship with change in our lives and our work. Sometimes change is welcome and embraced because it makes things better. Sometimes we resist change because we fear it will make things worse. Sometimes we are the initiator of change and other times external factors impose change upon us. Sometimes we take the long view of change, such as “What will my life be like when I retire?” and other times we take an “in-the-moment” short-term view, such as “I wish people would stop interrupting me right now when I’m trying to get this report done.”
The third archetype of change is the Hearthtender and they tend to take a short-term view of change and will embrace it if it makes their work more efficient. In organizations, families or faith communities, the Hearthtender orientation towards change is to value getting the day-to-day work of the system completed in an efficient way. Their primary orientation is towards being of service. They love to keep things running smoothly, and in an organization, they see their team or unit as “family.” The Hearthtender naturally is attracted to the idea of continuous, small incremental change and often has creative ideas about how to improve workflow and processes. However, they do not tend to think strategically and long-term. They tend to be focused on details and it is easy for them to get caught up in the weeds or to be overwhelmed by long to-do lists.
Our research shows that in most organizations, the Hearthtender Archetype is the predominant Archetype of Change, and is absolutely necessary for the not only the routine of daily operation but also for the support of transitions from one organizational state to another.
In the U.S. we are in the midst of a major transition. We have just had a very unhealthy, toxic Edgewalker president leave office. He pushed the boundaries of democratic norms of decency, ethics, and service until they broke. He went over the edge. Our new President, Joe Biden, will need to amplify his Hearthtender Archetype in order to clean up the mess left by his predecessor and to handle all the short-term crises that were intentionally left behind. Biden will need his Hearthtender quality of compassion for others, for seeing unity (“family”) where others see conflict, and he’ll need the quality of a healer as he helps to heal a wounded nation. As he focuses on the short-term, which is necessary in the middle of a crisis, he will also need to draw upon his Hearthtender skill of being able to multitask, the skill of being able handle many issues at once, the skill of attention to detail in policy-making and decision-making, and the skill of streamlining systems and processes to make them more efficient.
All of us have the capability to tap into any of the five Archetypes of Change even if one of them is more comfortably our go-to place. When and where are you a Hearthtender? Think about the parts of your life or work that are going smoothly, that run like a well-oiled machine. Oiling that machine is Hearthtender work. Think about the parts of your life or work where you truly feel you are being of service, where you make a difference. My husband Ellis Ralph is a beekeeper and this time of year (winter in the Northern Hemisphere) is time to feed the bees sugar water to make sure they get through the cold season until they can forage for themselves. That’s Hearthtender work. Think about the parts of your life where you bring people together to celebrate or to create a sense of team, community or family. That is the heart-work of a Hearthtender.
I also encourage you to think about the Hearthtenders in your world who support you. Hearthtenders thrive on knowing their work made a difference, and I encourage you to show them your quiet gratitude.
Thank you for this. I know, for myself, I resist change that is thrust upon me, unlike change that I initiate. I know that long term focus is not my gift………and yes, I can lose myself in the weeds. However, I can imagine myself at the end of life looking back and considering what I had created. I noticed decades ago that I could focus on doing small unnecessary tasks while procrastinating the larger ones required to move forward in my work. So, laughing at oneself can be beneficial is what that brought. I am grateful to be of service and grateful to have a wonderful network of friends with whom I share the gift of mutual support.
Dear Peggy,
Thank you for your share, I can definitely relate to the focus on small things in order to excuse my procrastination on the larger things. I embrace change and throughout my life have had to do that in order to stray strong, become stronger and to see light in the new doors opening. Again, thank you, I enjoyed reading your comments.
Peggy, I had to laugh at myself as I read your response above. I’m in the midst of focusing on small tasks as I procrastinate the larger ones. In my qualitative research on the Archetypes, the Hearthtender Archetype is roughly 70% of population, and thank God for that. Hearthtenders are the ones who keep the home fires burning and the day-to-day work humming along.
Love to hear that!
I believe that my hearthkeeper archetype is very strong in that I am a list keeper, which I am “changing” to look like they aren’t! I keep on top of things that I need to keep the household, my husband, and my ministry done efficiently. I do believe though that I visit other archetypes to check them out, see how they are doing and to see what I can learn from them to incorporate into my life. Good things to look at here, thank you for the opportunity to do so. I like archetype parties.
Hi Karen, I love the idea of Archetype parties. In Native American tradition, the council members sit in the circle and call in the wisdom from the seven directions. We could create an Archetype Party for different situations like planning, visioning, budgeting, conflict resolution and so on, and invite the wisdom of each of the Archetypes to have a voice. Linda Hoopes and I are nearly done with the Archetypes of Change Survey which will allow individuals to learn the strengths and shadow side of how they express their Edgewalker, Flamekeeper, Hearthtender, Placeholder, and Guardian wisdom. That should be fun!
I really love this image of a hearthtender… small child, 2 cats and 4 corgies. And this glimpse of actually cooking by the hearth. At this time of huge, sweeping changes it feels very grounded and present and nurturing of life, which I also got from the post. It’s a prefect pairing.
As I look back on my careers in ministry and law enforcement, I can identify several wonderful people who were clearly Hearthtenders. They could be counted on to keep things running, know everyone (and all their birthdays and family members’ names), and, when things got tense, how to subtly diffuse the tension.
They were also resistant to most changes and were best served by a good deal of advance notice so that they could come to terms with it.
I don’t know how most organizations could continue without Hearthtenders in key position.