Man's Search for Meaning
Victor Frankl
Leadership & Hardiness students began their journey in this course through learning about the foundation and philosophy on life that contribute to the construct of hardiness and other mechanisms that represent a pathway towards resiliency. Students read Flrankl's gripping account of "life in a concentration camp as reflected in the mind of a prisoner". The story is filled with realistic depictions of the experiences of camp life and how the experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action and in finding meaning in all forms of existence, even in the most dyer of circumstances, and thus a reason to continue living. Through readings and classroom discussions, students engaged in an existential analysis of their own existence within the context of their families, organizations, and community. What did we learn from Frankl's story and his life in a concentration camp that has implications for leadership, personal and organizational resilience? What is the relevance of understanding existential analysis to explore meaning and growth in adversity? These are some pragmatic yet important questions to ask in authentic living, let alone in preparing for a class simulation that will stretch the mind, body, and spirit.
16 comments:
The reading of Frankl’s story is definitely a testament to the power of a resilient soul and spirit. Frankl possessed the ability to retreat in-ward to find the strength necessary to keep moving forward. In the context of an organization, many times individuals look externally for the strength to navigate through the challenges faced throughout the workday and even during a career. The individual, who looks externally for resilient forces, will not find the answers necessary to give meaning to their life and discern the answers necessary to resolve their existential angst. The organizational implications for those who are unable to look inward for answers during moments of time where obstacles seem insurmountable, will erupt into analysis paralysis – causing forward progress to halt. The power of a leader who can “retreat…to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom,” (Frankl 2006 p. 36) can shape the organization and individual contributors to seek the answers necessary to maintain a productive mood – that is forward progress. The power of a leader to lift those who follow into the best version of themselves will create a climate steeped in resilience. The leader must set the tone where introspection is a tool for seeking answers and leverage others to flesh out a path or process to keep moving forward. Also, the leader should establish or foster a culture where followers can sort through the questions they are contemplating while in a state of flux to find the answers need to shift to a more productive mood and “a meaning to sturdy enough to support one’s life” (Meaninglessness p. 423). Conversely, the leader must recognize the process should occur organically; however, it should not last indefinitely.
When individuals can find meaning within their own lives and a sense of purpose, the ability to “bounce” back from times of uncertainty or tests of character will allow them to continue to evolve into the best version of themselves. I firmly believe that as we move through life, we are evolving into the best version of ourselves and the point when we lose the desire to grow intellectually, physically and spiritually we must push through as these are the moments which define and test our strength of character. In choosing to move forward and push through we choose a future, this choice requires a necessary courage or power which will fuel the resilient individual and their soul
In reading Frankl's story I was moved by how he endured a horrible existence but was able to continue on. He went from being a noted Dr. with his thoughts on logotherapy to not being much more than an animal. He found pleasure and solitude in memories of his wife and their short time together that guided him through the darkness of prison life and it's senseless acts against mankind. What I took from this was it best to focus on how he got through it instead of the default of why this was happening to him. In leadership often times failures ultimately lead to our biggest accomplishments and successes. Being able to take from our experiences and eventually find the good in something will enable us to become stronger and resilient. A good leader is willing to take responsibility not only successes but failures. Everyone in an organization has something to offer. Some more than others but every bit can be used as part of the overall success.
The many lessons in resilience that can be gleaned from Frankl’s story of life in the concentration camps are significant. The theory which he had already begun work on prior to the war offered him a unique perspective from which to view his situation in the camps. The awareness he was able to demonstrate while being deprived of many of the basic needs that Maslow cites (food, water, shelter, safety) was simply miraculous as he managed to retain his power to choose; to choose his reaction/response to his suffering.
As he admits, there were times early on when Frankl himself struggled to find meaning in continuing to live in the abhorrent conditions, but once he was able to close in on his “why” (Dostoevski), nothing was able to turn him back. “Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom…”(Frankl, 2006, p. 66). The application for such resilience in leadership and in life is widespread.
The fear of death, dying, and suffering can be paralyzing to nearly everyone at some point in life. Organizations, as well as those who comprise them, all generally have felt the fear that their demise may be near. However, it is the task of leaders to recognize these emotions as they arrive and face them with dignity and courage. As Frankl puts it, “The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails…gives him ample opportunity…to add a deeper meaning to his life” (2006, p. 67). Acceptance of the suffering, and yet still choosing to move forward in a right and moral manner is the choice of a strong leader, properly termed as one who “went out with his boots on” when his end was near.
Understanding existentialism and its use in exploring meaning and growth in the midst of adversity is critical to a leader’s effectiveness. To be able to lead others and function in trying situations like those Frankl experienced has pre-requisites; namely, a leader must know and accept his calling, along with his lot in life, once he realizes its presence. “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein, he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated” (Frankl, 2006, p. 102).
In order to grow while facing adversity, a person must not shrink from their conditions, but instead be free to stand toward those conditions and still move forward (Frankl, 2006, p. 130). In ascending a mountain or tackling the impossible task, it is paramount that one realize the truth in Frankl’s (2006) statement, that “man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes-within the limits of endowment and environment-he has made out of himself” (pp. 133-134). The conditions of life may not be great, the suffering all too real, but the way in which we face these conditions will be the testament to who we really are.
There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love - Johnny Depp
I read this over the weekend and it exemplifies my understanding of Frankl's resiliant strength and journey into understanding the meaning of life.
Frankl writes, "The truth - that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasp the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love" (p. 37).
Love forms the foundation from which our passion grows. It gives us the strength to endure great suffering and leads us to the greatest heights of our imagination. In and through love, we begin to answer the question, "What is the meaning of life?"
In our greatest time of need, love is there to confort us and gives us something tangible to hold onto. Love, in my opinion, is the beginning and the end. It brings us full circle to understanding ourselves and where we fit in the grand scheme of life.
Man’s Search for Meaning is simply one of those books you can read every couple of years and apply Frankl’s story to your personal and professional life. This is my third time reading this book and this time around I thought a lot about letting go of a lot of nonessential things in my life. Personally and professionally I tend to worry about things that are out of my control, as well as not all that important in the grand scheme of things. As Frankl discussed the process by which the Nazi’s stripped each of the inmates of their belongings and even their loved ones I could not help but wonder how I would have reacted. If you take away everything we hold dear in our lives what remains is humanity in its rawest form. Luckily I have not experienced anything even close to this experience, but I am wondering if it is possible to use Frankl’s experiences to simplify my life and focus on what is most important; my family. Likewise, I am also contemplating whether or not it is also possible to simply my work life by focusing on the most important aspects of my role versus the office politics which seem to consume a lot of my time, effort, and energy. Further, I am really thinking of a complete existential review of how I manage everything in my life to ensure I spend enough of my limited time experiencing my life rather than it manage me. Timing could not be better for this little exercise as I think I am embarking on a bit of a mid-life crisis, and have come to realize there are most likely fewer days ahead of me than behind. I keep asking myself “how will I experience life” in the next 25 years”? I guess for me, Frankl’s most influential message from Man’s Search for Meaning has to do with humility and respect for life. I believe this can be applied personally or professionally if you chose to look at it that way. As leaders, I think it is important to resist the temptation of egocentric and arrogant behavior, and I think one of Frankl’s messages had to do with not only how we behave when things go really bad, but also when they are going well. Today we see larger-than-life CEO’s on television leading industries, the economy, and in great part, the world. However, we also hear about their failed marriages, relationships, as well as the destruction they tend to leave in the wake of their success. Eventually these “stars” tend to burn themselves out and fade away. I wonder if they performed an existential analysis of their lives (personally and professionally) if they would make some changes. Lastly, I have been thinking a lot about “fate” as described by Frankl. Throughout the book we learn he had countless opportunities to die in the concentration camps, and in many cases he let fate dictate his life, or death, depending how you look at it. I tend to not leave much to chance in my life and find that I worry about maintaining control; even of the things I cannot influence. Along with taking a look at simplifying my life, I believe I am also willing to let fate play a larger role in how things work in my life. The funny thing is that the control I think I have is really an illusion and could be dramatically altered at any time. The question is how I will respond. Will I persevere? Will I crumble? I am not sure, but I would like to think that I would find meaning in my life and continue on even if things were to get difficult. I kind of rambled on, but this is what I got out of Man’s Search for Meaning. Kyle England
Perhaps the most important think to take from Frankl’s story, is the realization that everyone suffers or struggles at times. It is how we deal with these times of suffering or hardship that is important. It could be a time for us to self-reflect and attempt to find meaning in our suffering, life, or struggle, or a time to become discouraged and loose hope. In the concentration camp scenario, it is the retention of hope that keeps the prisoners alive and gives them the opportunity to reflect on this suffering and the meaning of life. Once this hope is lost there is no more opportunity to make this suffering or hardship meaningful. Existential analysis in adversity is important when reflecting on these hardships in an attempt to find meaning in one’s own life and understand how we can use these elements of hardiness and resilience to become better leaders.
What did we learn from Frankl's story and his life in a concentration camp that has implications for leadership, personal and organizational resilience?
2. What is the relevance of understanding existential analysis to explore meaning and growth in adversity? These are some pragmatic yet important questions to ask in authentic living, let alone in preparing for a class simulation that will stretch the mind, body, and spirit.
This is the second class in a row I have read one of Frankl's books. I have found them to be extremely humbling when I compare his story to the trivial hardships I have faced in my own life. His is an amazing story of resilience that is a great example of what a person can endure both mentally and physically if they are able to find personal meaning to carry on. It gives leaders an example of what the individual is capable of if they have meaning in what they do the ability they have to overcome even the greatest obstacles. Leaders need to create that meaning for themselves as well as lift those they lead to greater versions of themselves. Creating an environment that will be sustain resilience in the toughest of times.
Existential analysis is the means by which we bring meaning to our own being. It allows us to find a sense of purpose and direction in times of adversity. We all face times in our lives that test us and make us look inside ourselves for the answers of how we go on from there, what we learn, how we grow, who we become as a result. It is all a part of our growth as a person we either choose to look inside and continue on or give up, resilience leads us to grow and become stronger because we have found our own meaning that allows us to continue on in life.
Frankl’s story of his endeavor during his time in concentration camps was not what I was expecting. I have read or seen films depicting the experience had by those who survived but none ever relayed their experience as Frankl did. Typically, when I have seen/read other stories I have reacted with sympathy and disgust for what was done. Now, this is not to say that my heart did not go out to those in Frankl’s story, but it was not the same overwhelming feeling of sorrow. Instead, I felt hope in his story and anticipation. Choice was the main theme that I can away with: the choice to lose yourself and allow others to take the essence of who you are from you, the choice to see beyond your current situation, the choice to take another’s place to stay behind, the choice to find meaning in your life no matter how dire the situation. Frankl made the choice to make his time mean something and not to let his situation take his essence.
My understanding of existentialism on the basic level is that it is the idea of our response to our own being. It goes beyond the idea of fate, instead that we are the creators of our own fate.
The purpose of studying Man’s Search for Meaning and Existentialism in a leadership course is that it exemplifies how difficult situations do not have to take away our choices. That our choices can lead us to not only find a solution but also provide us with an opportunity to find purpose in all situations. In the context of hardiness, it is a reminder that no matter what may be placed in front of us as leaders, there is something ahead if we choose to push on. What Frankl faced in his time in concentration camps is not anything that may likely confront us as leaders; therefore, it assists with placing things into perspective. In our organizations, we may face business-famine or imminent death of an organization. Frankl had no change of clothes and barely any food but he had strength. That strength came from within. As leaders, we must learn to find that strength within each of us to make the choices that are true to our selves and the meaning we look to create in our lives.
Frankl's work reminds me that when all else is lost we have choice. Even when we do not have the ability to change circumstances in our work or personal lives we still have the ability to choose how we respond to them. Frankl endured an ordeal that challenged the basic desire to be alive. Most of us don't face such extremes, but do face challenges to our resilience that allow us to decide whether we will persevere or perish.
As stated in the book existential can be linked to a “mode of being”, “meaning of existence”, and “personal existence” (Frankl, 2006, p. 100). To me existentialism at a given point in time may be any of these facets. If I am having an extraordinarily challenging I may wonder why me, or not me, and look for what difference I make in the scheme of things. At point in my life where I am unstressed, I would equate it with my mode of just being, no specific thought, concern, or reason for contemplation. Finally, I feel times of stress, possibly when outcomes are slanted positively, I would tend to relate to personal existence – I see this in my challenges at work, my birth of my kids, or the challenges associated with taking care of my aging parents.
My takeaway from studying existentialism and reading this book as part of this course is to help us understand and develop skills to help us cope with and understand challenges that we and others are likely to encounter. Understanding humanity and our ability to overcome rather than give up is critical to success. Without this understanding, we as individual or group leaders may not have the wherewithal to elicit the strength of personal conviction to achieve what may not seem achievable or worse yet even the attempt.
While Frankl takes us to an extreme, the framework of human study can be overlaid in just about any circumstance. In our endeavor to summit Mt. Adams, it should provide us the understanding of how much strength we actually have and that strength coupled with that of those around us, we should surely be able to persevere in our endeavor to summit. From a hardiness perspective, it is all of this wrapped into one frame, that hope, positive mental attitude, and camaraderie are layers of strength that when combined allow for greater success than without them.
Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, provided insight that I find will help me in my career of being a U.S. Marine and is reflective of some of my past experiences. For instance the very act of becoming a Marine, through boot camp or officer candidate school, incorporates both physical and mental challenges, which requires a high level of individual desire to make it through the training and indoctrination process. The suffering and sacrifice required to make it through the indoctrination process, although nowhere near the level of hardships experienced by Frankl, does often invoke a recruit or officer candidate to personally question if the sacrifice and suffering endured is worth the harsh experience of becoming a Marine. Frankl’s extraordinary gift to overcome the challenges and adversity of a Nazi concentration camp, without losing his faith and dignity is remarkable. The existential component to his work illustrated how Frankl used suffering to find meaning in life. Frankl said, “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete” (1997, p.137). As such, I was extremely proud of earning the title of Marine because I felt it was an extremely difficult process, which challenged me to reach beyond what I perceived to be my physical and mental limits. Frankl also stressed the importance of maintaining one’s dignity and selflessness. Frankl stated, “in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal” (1997, p.137). Likewise, I learned early in the indoctrination process of becoming a Marine that the needs of the group or unit trumped those of individual desires or needs and respect is earned through shared hardships. A Marine unit will excel together or fail together -- there’s no room for self-preservation.
First of all I want to start of by saying how amazingly well this book was written. The tone used throughout the book was extremely captivating, but in a different way than most books written about experiences in concentration camps. He captured the human spirit and the overwhelming desire to survive despite the most dire circumstances. I thought one of the questions that was answered by the book that I had never heard before was the survival rate of those who entered the camp and made it to liberation of some kind, 1 out of every 28. Considering the amount of people that entered those camps, it is stunning to think about the amount of people that perished at the hands of those cruel means of captivity.
But through all of the stories told and the experiences shared, Frankl draws a clear picture of what existentialism is. Existentialism is really the search for who we are, why we are here and what that means to each one of us. He talks about how these questions are shaped throughout our life, but the answers can change in an instant depending on our circumstances. Take for example all of the people who entered those camps a "doctor" or "lawyer" or "teacher". This who they may have been before, but were no longer once they entered those gates. When those things were taken from people, they were left with a gaping hole to fill because they no longer knew who they were. He described this phenomena as the leading cause for the death of the people. They had lost a sense of purpose and no longer felt they had anything left to live for. As he would council some of these people they would progress to a stage where they couldn't see a future for themselves and then lost their fight.
In the end the main thing that struck me from this book was when he talked about how we find meaning. He talked about how people need to be looking for meaning through the sufferings they endure and the daily struggles they face. He also said though that you don't have to endure suffering to find meaning, but if you are suffering and not looking for meaning in it, the suffering becomes worthless.
I will definitely read this book again from time to time to try to garner new wisdom about finding meaning in the things we do, and helping myself answer the questions of who am I, why am I here and what does this mean to me. This was an amazing read.
What did we learn from Frankl's story and his life in a concentration camp that has implications for leadership, personal and organizational resilience?
The purpose of this book in this course is to show that you will face challenges that you never thought you would be able to overcome, but if you can control your mental toughness than you can preserve through almost anything. I am sure when we climb this mountain that there will come a point when we are tired or in pain and want to quit, but if we can frame our thoughts towards our meaning we will have a greater chance at success.
What is the relevance of understanding existential analysis to explore meaning and growth in adversity?
The term “existential” may be used in three ways: to refer to (1) existence itself, i.e., the specifically human mode of being; (2) the meaning of existence; and (3) the striving to find a concrete meaning in personal existence, that is to say, the will to meaning.
The meaning of all existentialism is to find meaning,purpose, or identify that something does exist. As leaders we need be able to understand existentialism when we are not faced with adversity. We need to find meaning when we are not being challenged, because when we are being challenged it will be even harder to find meaning.When we have recognized the meaning of something we will be able to reflect on it and when we are able to reflect we are able to grow.
I had originally written and (and thought I had) posted a lengthy blog response in June, but it never showed up on the blog and I didn’t save a copy of it. As the semester ends I’m finally getting around to doing some blogging here, and have decided that I will just post some ideas from Frankl’s book that stood out to me as I was reading it:
• When suffering you keep your humanity by creating
• Cultivate a sense of humor about your suffering
• The size of suffering is relative, we all experience it in the same way
• Comparison is dangerous
• Fate is not our master
• Human decisions are inherently uncertain
I’ve returned to this list over and over this summer. Number four is especially meaningful to me.
I remember reading Frankl’s story while poolside on my island vacation with girlfriends. I’d run into an amazing passage or thought and want to share it just to look over and find everyone chatting and laughing with drink in hand. It was during my vacation I started to notice I just felt different, like an outsider in my own life. I was challenged to focus and commit to my postings I just couldn’t concentrate. Much like being at the poolside party with a heady book on logotherapy and concentration camps I just felt like I was in limbo. I felt like if I could just level with Frankl and agree that I have clarified my meaning and will to continue on then I could just rejoin the pool party. Listening to the heart wrenching therapy session of the man that lost his wife and couldn’t find his way out of his depression and then the woman who had tried to commit suicide but it was her handicapped son that seemed to have more clarity of the nature of survival than his able-bodied mother left me wishing I could have my own intervention.
As leaders I feel like we are constantly being pulled in two distinctly different directions. On one hand we need to be innovative and creatively looking for more efficient ways to do business at less of a cost and on the other hand we’re tasked with providing stability to those that are following our lead. I find that this is my biggest area of struggle; I can’t figure out how to be in two places at once. Frankl knew that by understanding your meaning and clarifying it daily in your choices and actions you could likely have security in the unknown because beyond the uncertainty you know that your choices are always a possession owed only by you. I struggle with this…likely because I still lack the clarity to understand my position. I do feel a sense of duty to press on for others even when dealing with personal, internal struggles and that may just be part of my journey. While I couldn’t always relate to everything mentioned in Frankl’s book I did find it incredibly inspiring…like one day I just might get it. Until then I’ll keep in motion.
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