Reflections on Character and Leadership: On the Couch with Manfred Kets de Vries

Reflections on Character and Leadership is the first of the three books in the Manfred kets de Vries on the Couch series. Here, Kets de Vries looks at entrepreneurship, the pathology of leadership, and the personality of the leader. The reader will visit the disturbed inner worlds of leaders like Alexander the Great, Shaka Zulu and Robert Maxwell, discover how to distinguish between a cold fish and a live volcano, and identify impostors, despots, organizational fools and global leaders. The book highlights the basic principles of the clinical paradigm—the process of putting organizations and the individuals who lead them on the psychoanalyst’s couch. It includes studies of personality archetypes and the effects they have on organizational life and culture—and the effects that organizations have on them. Referring frequently to key management concepts, Kets de Vries looks not only at what happens when things go wrong, but also at how to create the psychological and organizational space to make sure that things go right. About the series: The series offers an overview of Kets de Vries’s work spanning four decades, a period in which he has established himself as the leading figure in the clinical study of organizational leadership. The books in this series contain a representative selection of Kets de Vries’ writings about leadership from a wide variety of published sources and cover character and leadership in a global context, career development and leadership in organizations. The original essays were all written or published between 1976 and 2008. Updated where appropriate and revised by the author, they present a digest of the work of one of the most influential management thinkers of the present day.

Table of Contents:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii PREFACE xv Psychoanalysis and organizational life xv First case: an entrepreneur xix The clinical paradigm xxi About this book xxii PART I: LEADERS, FOOLS, AND IMPOSTORS 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Playing the organizational fool 4 1 THE ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSONALITY 6 Introduction 6 Entrepreneurship: views from other disciplines 8 Common psychological themes in the entrepreneurial personality 10 The effects of family dynamics 17 Case study: The entrepreneur's story 18 Falling into extremes 22 The Medusa women 24 The meaning of work 26 Competition and self-defeating behavior 28 The symbolic nature of the enterprise 29 The process of change 31 The entrepreneurial life cycle 33 Working effectively with entrepreneurs 39 Endnotes 42 2 THE HYPOMANIC PERSONALITY 43 Introduction 43 The Dionysian quality of charismatic leadership 44 Case study: Hypomania in action 46 Elation and its vicissitudes 50 Managing a hypomanic 53 Hypomania in the workplace 55 Possible interventions 56 Self-help measures 58 The plus side for organizations 60 Endnotes 61 3 THE ALEXITHYMIC PERSONALITY 62 Introduction 62 The 'dead fish' syndrome 62 Identifying alexithymia 63 Alexithymia as a communication disorder 64 Where do the origins of alexithymia lie? 66 Degrees of alexithymia 68 Alexithymics in the workplace 69 The Alexithymic CEO 70 Working with an alexithymic manager 72 Managing an alexithymic 73 Searching for solutions 75 Endnote 78 4 THE IMPOSTOR SYNDROME 79 Introduction 79 What makes an impostor? 82 The creative artist as impostor 85 The impostor as national leader 86 The impostor: a character sketch 89 Case study: The impostor as entrepreneur 92 Endnote 97 5 NEUROTIC IMPOSTORS: FEELING LIKE A FAKE 98 Introduction 98 What creates imposturous feelings? 99 The neurotic impostor in the workplace 103 How the fear can become a reality 105 How neurotic impostors can impact on businesses 108 Finding solutions 109 Endnotes 111 6 THE ORGANIZATIONAL FOOL: BALANCING A LEADER’S HUBRIS 112 Introduction 112 The role of the fool 112 The fool as cultural hero 114 The benefi ts of humor 115 What makes a fool? 117 The organizational fool 117 The value of the fool 123 Endnote 123 PART II: THE PATHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP 125 INTRODUCTION 126 7 PRISONERS OF LEADERSHIP 130 Introduction 130 Case study: The case of Robert Clark 131 Case study: The case of Frederick the Great 132 Externalizing inner confl icts 135 The search for authority 136 Regressive group processes 139 Case study: The case of Ted Howell 141 Distance and aggression in leaders 142 Managing leaders' behavior in organizations 143 Endnotes 145 8 THE SPIRIT OF DESPOTISM: UNDERSTANDING THE TYRANT WITHIN 146 Introduction 146 Setting the scene for tyranny 149 What motivates tyrants? 150 How tyrannies operate 150 How despotic regimes are maintained 152 The despot's toolbox 153 The economic costs of tyranny 158 The need for democracy 159 The dangers of power 160 Why despotism must be fought 161 Unjust deserts 163 Judicial remedy 163 The International Criminal Court 165 Endnote 166 9 LEADERSHIP BY TERROR: FINDING SHAKA ZULU IN THE ATTIC 167 Introduction 167 The life and death of an absolute despot 168 Deconstructing the despot's inner theater 171 The colluding mind 179 A tyranny of self-deception 183 Leaders and followers 186 Shaka's legacy 190 Endnote 191 PART III: TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP 193 INTRODUCTION 194 10 'DOING AN ALEXANDER': LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP BY A MASTER CONQUEROR 198 Introduction 198 The life of Alexander 199 Alexander's legacy 205 Lessons in leadership à la Alexander 206 Conclusions 210 Endnote 210 11 LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE 211 Introduction 211 The effects of leaders on their organizations 212 Different leaders, same results 213 The architectural aspect of leadership 214 The charismatic role of leaders 223 Conclusions 226 Endnote 226 12 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND: MANAGING CREATIVE PEOPLE 227 Introduction 227 Characteristics of creative people 228 Stimulating creativity 230 Playing in a transitional world 231 Two roads to creativity 233 Creative management 236 Watching for the danger signs 240 Endnote 241 PART IV: LEADERSHIP IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT 243 INTRODUCTION 244 13 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEADER WITHIN THE GLOBAL CORPORATION 247 Introduction 247 A case study in internationalization 248 Forms of global organizations 249 Qualities needed in global leaders 253 Training, transfer, teamwork, and travel 260 A framework for analyzing the development of the global leader 262 Conclusions 263 Endnote 264 14 IN SEARCH OF THE NEW EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADER 265 Introduction 265 The challenge of diversity 267 Internal and external competition 270 Is a single model possible? 271 A middle path 272 Dealing with change 273 The making of the European leader 275 Leadership in Europe and beyond 277 Endnote 278 15 LESSONS FROM THE 'WILD EAST': RUSSIAN CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP 279 The Russian character 279 Contextual factors in the formation of the Russian character 282 Russia's transition: from cooperatives to capitalism 295 New leaders and new followers 296 Eight leadership lessons 300 Challenges for global Russian business leaders 302 The end of the beginning 305 Endnotes 305 CONCLUSION: CREATING HIGH-COMMITMENT ORGANIZATIONS 307 The future of organizations 307 Meta-values for great companies 308 Motivational need systems 309 Leaders and meta-value creation 313 Concluding comments 314 Endnote 315 REFERENCES 317 INDEX 333

About the Author :
Manfred Kets de Vries brings a much-needed fresh perspective to the subjects of leadership and change, drawing on his knowledge of economics, management, psychology and psychoanalysis. He is Clinical Professor of Leadership at INSEAD where he holds the Raoul de Vitry d'Avaucourt Chair of Leadership Development. He has also held professorships at McGill University, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Montreal and Harvard Business School, and has lectured at management institutions all over the world. He is the author, co-author, or editor of m ore than 30 books including The Leader on the Couch and Family Business on the Couch, and over 300 articles and papers. In  November 2008, Manfred Kets de Vries was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Leadership Association in Los Angeles. He and six others were inducted into the leadership legacy project as "founding professionals of the development of leadership as a field and as a discipline." Previously, in 2005, he was the first non-American recipient of the ILA Leadership Award for his 'Contributions to the Classroom and to the boardroom." The Financial Times, Le Capital, Wirtschaftwoche and The Economist have also judged him one of the world's leading thinkers on leadership.