At this critical junction in the history of humankind, leaders that are proficient in magical thinking aren’t going to solve our problems. Creating alternative realities is not the answer. We need a very different kind of leadership―leaders who can resist the calls of regression and whose outlook is firmly based in reality. We need leaders who analyze and draw conclusions from, or use their own experiences as a development tool, face their strengths and weaknesses, and critique their own experiences in order to build new understandings. In this very personal and entertaining book, Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the “gurus” in the field of leadership studies offers his thoughts on leadership and life, reflections written for executives and the people who deal with them. As a psychoanalyst and leadership professor let loose in the world of renowned global organizations―as a passionate educator and scholar, or just a human being at the receiving end of heart-rending emails―he examines the pitfalls of leadership and the challenges for the professionals who work with senior executives in today’s AI-focused world. He points out why leaders can derail, and what steps they can take to prevent this from happening. Ultimately, this book encourages you to “Know yourself,” but makes no bones about the challenge it represents. Understanding our “inner theatre” will always be an uphill struggle. Kets de Vries points out why deep dives into our inner world are always fraught with many anxieties. Included in the many subjects covered by the author are the loneliness of command, the management of disappointment, the destructive role of greed, the impact of stubbornness, the role of storytelling, the importance of wellness, and the role of corporate culture. In addition, the book addresses the important topic of how to create great teams and best places to work. Furthermore, the book touches on endings– the ending of our career and the growing realization of the inevitable ending of our life. As time grows short, Kets de Vries emphasizes that we have no time to lose in dealing with our anxieties, regrets, and the things we spend much of our life determined not to see. Taking a deep dive into self-knowledge requires courage and support, and he is here to guide you through it.
Author(s): Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Series: The Palgrave Kets de Vries Library
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 230
City: Cham
Prologue
You Cannot Not Communicate
Wandering and Wondering
Contents
About the Author
1: The Rot at the Top
2: A Leadership Laboratory
Character Building
“Life” Case Studies
What’s Missing?
The Energy Barometer
Team Building: Vision without Action Is a Hallucination
3: The Clinical Paradigm
Taking a Clinical Perspective
The-Snake-Under-the-Carpet Syndrome
4: An Existential Dive
The Nightmare
Death Anxiety
A Sense of Disconnection
Finding Meaning
5: The Self-Actualizing Equation
Transcending Death
The Essentials
Maintaining our Equilibrium
6: The Power of Storytelling
Neurological Mirroring
Oxytocin
Emotional Resonance
7: “Rewriting” Stories
Times of Trouble
8: Our Inner Theater
Attachment Behavior
Attachment Styles and Life Anchors
What Makes You Feel Alive?
The Inside-Outside Axis
9: Caveat Emptor
Homo Mirabilis: The Rise of the Miracle Workers
The Triumph of Hope Over Experience
“Psychic” Circuses
Healer, Heal Thyself
10: The “Freudian” Trajectory
Secondary Gain
The Enigma of Sigmund Freud
Bald Men Fighting for a Comb
The Contemporary Relevance of Psychoanalysis
Know Yourself
11: The Rollercoaster Ride of Change
Incremental or Quantum Change?
Being Twice-Born
Only You Can Change Your Life
Where Do You Want to Go?
Endings or Beginnings?
12: The Whisperer’s Dance
The Working Alliance
Countertransference
Transitional Space
The Rhythm of Change
13: Creating “Aha!” Experiences
Regression in the Service of the Ego
“Aha!” Moments and the Amygdala
The Ebb and Flow of Associations
Doing Nothing?
14: Are You a Prisoner of Optical Illusions?
Optical Illusions
Transferential Processes
Recognizing Transference
Creating Awareness
15: The Loneliness of Command
Being the Target of Hostile, Envious Feelings
Living in an Echo Chamber
Paranoid Thinking
What to Do?
16: The Icarus Syndrome
Wax and Wings
Preventive Measures
17: How Greedy Are You?
The Basic Fault
A Leaking Bucket
Evolutionary and Societal Considerations
A Faustian Pact
Is There Hope?
18: Don’t Regret Regrets
The Power of Retrospection
19: Managing Disappointment
Managing Expectations
Developmental Trajectories
Being Good Enough
Styles of Coping
Overcoming Disappointment
20: A-Players or B-Players?
B Trumps A
Personal or Company Agenda?
The Deadly Sin of Envy
A, B, or C?
Different Scenarios
The Psychodynamics of Hiring
21: How Close-Minded Are You?
Confirmation Biases
Power Games
Transforming Stubbornness into Dogma and Ideology
Being Oppositional as a Survival Strategy
Dealing with Stubborn People
22: Whatever It Is, I’m Against It
The Psychological Dynamics of Being Against It
23: Living in the “I” world
Collectivism Versus Individualism
The Transition Toward Gesellschaft
The Self-esteem Movement
The Culture of Narcissism
Social Media
Looking Ahead
24: Are You Attracted to a Cult?
Cultish Psychodynamics
Brainwashing
Paranoid Thinking
Targeting the Disenfranchised
A Closed System
The Cults Around Us
25: Do You Have a Corporate Culture—or a Corporate Cult?
Cult-like Experiences
Resist the Siren Call of Cult-like Behavior
26: Creating Best Places to Work
Authentizotic Organizations
How to Get There?
27: Can Organizations Provide Wellness?
Our Attraction to Fads
Faddism
Going Beyond the Wellness Illusion
28: Old Age Is Not for Sissies
Do We Live Too Long?
The Decline of the Body
Another Narcissistic Injury
Living Beyond Our Productive Self
Socio-economic Concerns
Endings
Epilogue
Index
