Description
Book SynopsisThere is often a great discrepancy between what leaders say and what they do. This book sets out to discover why that is. Manfred Kets de Vries explores the notion that this failure is grounded in leaders' inability to recognize their own moods and subconscious urges, leading to subjective decisions based on hidden forces.
Trade Review"One new book that does deserve praise" (
Financial Times Career Point, September 2006)
"As Manfred Kets de Vries, a professor at Insead business school, shows in a new book, the psychological condition of leaders can have a profound impact on all those who work under them." (Financial Times, October 2006)
"Fascinating Freudian look at chief executives and their occasionally rather damaged psychologies. Read this ..." (FTmagazine, December 2006)
"...Manfred Kets de Vries, sets out to change people ... for the better by revealing the 'dark side' of leadership behaviour..." (Professional Consultancy, January 2007)
Table of ContentsPreface xiii
1 Introduction: The Clinical Paradigm 1
Giving the unconscious its due 3
Tapping into psychoanalytic theories and techniques 6
Philosophical underpinnings of the clinical paradigm 9
The inner theater 11
Motivational need systems 13
Core conflictual relationship themes 15
Using the clinical paradigm to rewrite dysfunctional scripts 16
References 17
Part One: Entering the Inner Theater of Leaders 21
2 The Narcissistic Leader: Myth and Reality 23
Back to the future 25
Two modern myths: healthy neglect and tough love 28
Narcissistic personality disorders 31
Another fi ne Messier 33
Lost in space: introducing the T-word 42
Downsizing the narcissist 45
References 49
3 A Parade of Personalities 51
A question of character 52
Assessing leaders and followers 56
The dramatic disposition 59
The dramatic individual within the organization 62
The controlling disposition 63
The controlling individual within the organization 68
The dependent disposition 70
The dependent individual within the organization 74
The self-defeating disposition 75
The self-defeating individual within the organization 79
References 80
4 Leaders and Followers: Moving Away From People 83
The detached disposition 84
The detached individual within the organization 91
The depressive disposition 94
Depressives within the organization 98
References 100
5 Leaders and Followers: Moving Against People 101
The abrasive disposition 103
Abrasives within the organization 106
The paranoid disposition 110
The paranoid disposition within the organization 114
The negativistic disposition 118
The negativistic individual within the organization 123
The antisocial disposition 124
Antisocials within the organization 127
Prototypes and beyond 130
Table 5.1: An overview of the spectrum of personalities 131
References 132
6 Elation and Its Vicissitudes 135
The gift and curse of charisma 138
The sirens of hypomania 142
Surviving the “maniac” 151
References 155
7 The Impostor Syndrome: The Shadow Side of Success 157
Being a fraud versus feeling fraudulent 160
The fear of success 163
The dread of not living up to expectations 166
Infecting the organization 172
A search for origins 175
The light at the end of the tunnel 177
References 184
Part Two: Changing Mindsets 187
8 Can Leaders Change? Yes, But Only If They Want To 189
Why ride a dead horse? 191
Change and the triangle of mental life 193
Figure 8.1: Triangle of mental life 193
Hitting your head against the wall 194
The CEO “recycling” seminar 196
Looking in on “the challenge of leadership” 199
Theoretical underpinnings 203
References 207
9 Taking The Road Less Traveled 211
Owning your own life 212
Challenge 1: preparing for the journey 213
Case study 215
Catalysts for change 218
Challenge 2: identifying the problem 220
Major themes for executives 221
The triangle of conflict 226
Figure 9.1: Triangle of conflict 227
Challenge 3: unhooking “false connections” 230
Figure 9.2: Triangle of relationships 231
Linking the past with the present 232
Challenge 4: creating a holding environment 234
Challenge 5: actively working on the problem 235
Restructuring the inner theater 239
Keeping on track 243
Challenge 6: consolidating the change 244
Making the best of a poor hand of cards 245
References 247
10 Coach or Couch, Anybody? 251
Who are the clients? 254
What is leadership coaching? 256
Short-term psychotherapy versus leadership coaching 258
The coaching parade 262
The fundamentals of coaching: why and how 263
What makes for coaching success? 265
The vicissitudes of leadership coaching 269
References 273
11 Group Leadership Coaching 275
A case in point 277
Getting started 279
Gathering data 280
Figure 11.1: Sample personal graph 281
Figure 11.2: Sample personality audit graph 283
Group leadership coaching dynamics 285
Creating high-EQ teams 291
Figure 11.3: Leadership group coaching 295
Making group leadership coaching work in executive teams 296
The role of commitment and follow-up 296
The role of storytelling 297
The role of trust 298
References 300
Part Three: Understanding the Psychodynamics of Groups and Organizations 303
12 The Unconscious Life of Groups and Organizations 305
Basic group assumptions 311
The organizational ideal 316
Neurotic organizations 322
Organizational archetypes 323
Strengths of each style 325
Placing leaders on the couch 327
References 328
13 Unraveling The Mystery of Organizations 331
Clinical organizational interventions 332
Focal areas of intervention 333
The prickly CEO 337
Through the looking glass: the Stratec collusion 341
Consulting with the third ear 354
Connecting with a clinically informed consultant 357
Staying in for the long haul 358
Emulating Sherlock Holmes 359
References 362
14 Conclusion: Creating “Authentizotic” Organizations 363
Transcending the leadership crisis 368
True self versus false self 369
Authenticity: beyond the gulag organization 375
References 381
Index 383
