DEVELOPMENTAL CRISIS IN EARLY ADULTHOOD: A ...

which is very much money-orientated, but it doesn’t worry me, that’s not who I am.
That is very, very different. I seek out people far more than I did beforehand.”
(Interview 1, p.9-10)
Guy related the following story that encapsulated his transformation from a moneyfocused,
target-obsessed banker to a person who is more aware of the present moment
and of the value of small things:
“One example was in Seattle, when I went out there for a study tour. I got to
Seattle, it was late at night, and the rest of the group didn’t turn up until about two
or three hours later. So I walked into town, to the local mall to get some presents
to take home, and as I walked out what I realised was the Rocky mountains, and I
just turned round and it was just an absolute sublime moment when I became one
with them, so I stood on this pavement probably for about twenty minutes being
one with mountains. And everyone was walking past me, looking at me and
wondering what was going on, and it was just the most magical experience on
earth. And I know that six months earlier, I would have gone, oh yeah mountains,
and carried on walking. The stripping away makes it so much easier, and that still
exists today. Just the other day I was driving up to Norwich and the sun was
shining and it was raining, and there was a rainbow, so I stopped the car and
looked at the rainbow. I appreciate these moments which I saw but could not
appreciate in the past.” (Interview 2, p.11)
This story and its description of a sense of connectedness stands in contrast with
Guy’s descriptions of a pre-crisis predicament in which he was target-obsessed, while
being alienated from himself, his wife, his children and his interests.
7.7 From “Attila the Hun” to the Emerging Feminine
The last key theme in this case study is a shift away from a self dominated by
the cultural stereotype of masculinity towards a release of more feminine dispositions
and feminine activities. In his pre-crisis job, Guy describes himself abiding by the
“Attila the Hun” school of management, a turn of phrase that portrays an aggressive
and forceful approach to his job. He uses the belligerent language of “fighting” and
of “retaliation”:
“A lot of people who worked for me, who weren’t within that inner cordon, were
frightened of me. There is no doubt about it. I came from Attila the Hun school of
management, I didn’t suffer fools gladly. I would fight hard, it was an environment
in which you had to fight hard, and I knew that that wasn’t me” (Interview 2, p.9)
“I was very much an advocate of the Attila the Hun school of management, which
was basically, “I’m right, you’re wrong, and even when I am wrong, I am not going
to admit to you that I am wrong.” (Interview 2, p.7)
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