Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

The Self in Contemporary Organizations

Part of having a strong sense of self is to be accountable for one's actions. No matter how much we explore motives or lack of motives, we are what we do.

—Janet Geringer-Woititz, Adult Children of Alcoholics

Regardless of our culture or the defining issues of our time, we all share four fundamental needs: the need to feel competent, the need to belong, the need for consistency, and the need to find meaning in our lives.

Competence

We all need to feel competent at something that we value. This need to believe that we can be successful at what we do is called the “self-efficacy” motive.^[44] Our work and achievements are important to us because they help us define our identity, stretch our skills, and bring ...