The Leader on the Couch: A Clinical Approach to Changing People and Organizations - Hardcover

Manfred F. R. Kets De Vries

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470030798 ISBN 13: 9780470030790

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2006

Synopsis

Despite the proven benefits of emotional intelligence, organizational life has typically been hostile to the inner world of feeling. Rationality is deemed superior to feeling, which can contaminate judgment. But without feeling there is no passion, and no action. This book sets out to change people and organizations for the better, by revealing the 'dark side' of leadership behaviour and its impact on performance. Tapping into the startling parallels between the journey to emotional intelligence, the process of psychoanalysis, the practice of leadership coaching and the Zen journey to enlightenment, renowned thinker Manfred Kets de Vries helps executives, consultants, and coaches to peel back the layers of self-deception and reveal how inner personality – largely hard-wired since early childhood – affects the way they lead and manage others.

About this title

About the Author

Recently awarded the Leadership Scholar of the Year prize by the International Leadership Association, Manfred Kets de Vries brings a different view to the much-studied subjects of leadership and the dynamics of individual and organizational change.

The Financial Times, Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche and The Economist have judged Manfred one of the world's leading thinkers on leadership.

A clinical professor of leadership, he is Chair of Leadership Development and director of INSEAD's Global Leadership Centre. He is responsible for the top management seminar, The Challenge of Leadership: Creating Reflective Leaders and the program Consulting and Coaching for Change.

Manfred has received INSEAD's distinguished teacher award 5 times and has also held professorships at McGill University, Montreal, Harvard Business School and Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales.

Author, co-author or editor of over 22 books and over 200 articles, his work has featured regularly in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune and many other professional press publications.

From the Back Cover

Why is it worth your time to read this book?

Because people worldwide complain that there's a discrepancy between what leaders say and what they do, and it's rooted in the leaders' own lack of awareness of their psychological drivers and mood states. The Leader on the Couch will help you beat self-deception and reveal how inner personality largely hard-wired since childhood affects the way you lead and manage others.

Part One describes personality prototypes found in the workplace, and explores their impact in organizational life. Part Two looks at the educational 'technology' needed to change executive mindsets, and discusses intervention methods that can lead to change. Finally, Part Three deals with system-wide interventions, including ways of doing a leadership audit. The book closes with a call for 'authentizotic' organizations where leaders 'walk the talk', people feel alive and all are called to give their very best.

From the Inside Flap

Why is it worth your time to read this book?

Because people worldwide complain that there's a discrepancy between what leaders say and what they do, and it's rooted in the leaders' own lack of awareness of their psychological drivers and mood states. The Leader on the Couch will help you beat self-deception and reveal how inner personality – largely hard-wired since childhood – affects the way you lead and manage others.

Part One describes personality prototypes found in the workplace, and explores their impact in organizational life. Part Two looks at the educational 'technology' needed to change executive mindsets, and discusses intervention methods that can lead to change. Finally, Part Three deals with system-wide interventions, including ways of doing a leadership audit. The book closes with a call for 'authentizotic' organizations – where leaders 'walk the talk', people feel alive and all are called to give their very best.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470030798
• ISBN 13: 9780470030790
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 440