Stewardship, 2nd Edition

The Wish for Safety

MANY MANAGERS OPEN the door to their employees, and no one walks through it. Most of us chose safety when we took the job, and when the open hand of partnership is offered to us, we know there is a price to be paid. The price is uncertainty and anxiety. We are reluctant to close the chapter on safety and begin the one on adventure.

We choose dependency when we avoid ownership and responsibility by never confronting our own wish for safety and the importance we give our own self-interest. The most common way we maintain dominant and dependent relationships is by clinging to the idea of entitlement.