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

Manfred Kets de Vries has a profound understanding of what drives leaders, how they make sense of personal situations, make decisions, and take action. This book provides leaders with inspiring and helpful lessons learned when reflecting on a global context and having to change in respect of it. His is an innovative and well–founded approach that we also use when training the global leadership fellows at the WEF."
—Professor Gilbert Probst
"Manfred Kets de Vries goes straight to the heart of the matter: character! Not the idealized character of a mythical Perfect Leader, but the multifaceted, ambiguous, and often moving result of an individual life molded by mysterious darkness and occasional grace."
—Pierre Gurdjian
"We all strive to create a consistent  high–performance organization, and that means discovering or creating leaders. These are the people with the ′fairy dust′ that can make the organization special or alternatively can cause untold damage. This is a must–read for anyone who wants to understand and then manage their top executives better."
—John Stewart
"An absorbing insight into the personalities and motivation of leaders and their profound impact on organizational success... or failure."
—Tony Van Kralingen
"This compelling book unlocks the secrets of character and leadership  that individuals need to withstand the pressures of modern business. The reader is given an empowering induction as to the importance of psychiatry and psychoanalysis in understanding creative talent–and in setting achievable personal and corporate goals."
—David Ross
"For a seasoned leader, this book gives an o opportunity to see what followers see in him or her but do not dare say. For an aspiring leader it offers a roadmap for success, without sacrificing sanity and happiness. For a follower, it gives a chance to understand otherwise unexplainable behavior in his or her leader. This book makes people think and feel."
—Professor Konstantin Korotov
"Manfred Kets de Vries has a deep understanding of the leader′s mind and soul. He brings a unique perspective to the studies of leadership through his knowledge of both business sand organizational behavior, coupled with his perspective of individual psychoanalysis."
—Flavia B. de Almeida

Spis treści:
Acknowledgments.
Preface.
Psychoanalysis and organizational life.
First case: an entrepreneur.
The clinical paradigm.
About this book.
PART I: LEADERS, FOOLS, AND IMPOSTORS.
INTRODUCTION.
Playing the organizational fool.
1. THE ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSONALITY.
Introduction.
Entrepreneurship: views from other disciplines.
Common psychological themes in the entrepreneurial personality.
The effects of family dynamics.
Case study: The entrepreneur’s story.
Falling into extremes.
The Medusa women.
The meaning of work.
Competition and self–defeating behavior.
The symbolic nature of the enterprise.
The process of change.
The entrepreneurial life cycle.
Working effectively with entrepreneurs.
Endnotes.
2. THE HYPOMANIC PERSONALITY.
Introduction.
The Dionysian quality of charismatic leadership.
Case study: Hypomania in action.
Elation and its vicissitudes.
Managing a hypomanic.
Hypomania in the workplace.
Possible interventions.
Self–help measures.
The plus side for organizations.
Endnotes.
3. THE ALEXITHYMIC PERSONALITY.
Introduction.
The ‘dead fish’ syndrome.
Identifying alexithymia.
Alexithymia as a communication disorder.
Where do the origins of alexithymia lie?
Degrees of alexithymia.
Alexithymics in the workplace.
The Alexithymic CEO.
Working with an alexithymic manager.
Managing an alexithymic.
Searc hing for solutions.
Endnote.
4. THE IMPOSTOR SYNDROME.
Introduction.
What makes an impostor?
The creative artist as impostor.
The impostor as national leader.
The impostor: a character sketch.
Case study: The impostor as entrepreneu.
Endnote.
5. NEUROTIC IMPOSTORS: FEELING LIKE A FAKE.
Introduction.
What creates imposturous feelings?
The neurotic impostor in the workplace.
How the fear can become a reality.
How neurotic impostors can impact on businesses.
Finding solutions.
Endnotes.
6. THE ORGANIZATIONAL FOOL: BALANCING A LEADER’S HUBRIS.
Introduction.
The role of the fool.
The fool as cultural hero.
The benefits of humor.
What makes a fool?
The organizational fool.
The value of the fool.
Endnote.
PART II: THE PATHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP.
INTRODUCTION.
7. PRISONERS OF LEADERSHIP.
Introduction.
Case study: The case of Robert Clark.
Case study: The case of Frederick the Great. 
Externalizing inner conflicts.
The search for authority.
Regressive group processes.
Case study: The case of Ted Howell. 
Distance and aggression in leaders.
Managing leaders’ behavior in organizations.
Endnotes.
8. THE SPIRIT OF DESPOTISM: UNDERSTANDING THE TYRANT WITHIN.
Introduction.
Setting the scene for tyranny.
What motivates tyrants?
How tyrannies operate.
How despotic regimes are maintained.
The despot’s toolbox.
The economic costs of tyranny.
The need for democracy.
The dangers of power.
Why despotism must be fought.
Unjust deserts.
Judicial remedy.
The International Criminal Court.
Endnote.
9. LEADERSHIP BY TERROR: FINDING SHAKA ZULU IN THE ATTIC.
Introduction.
The life and death of an absolute despot.
Deconstructing the despot’s inner theater.
The colluding mind.
A tyranny of self–deception.
Leaders and fol lowers.
Shaka’s legacy.
Endnote.
PART III: TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP.
INTRODUCTION.
10. ‘DOING AN ALEXANDER’: LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP BY A MASTER CONQUEROR.
Introduction.
The life of Alexander.
Alexander’s legacy.
Lessons in leadership à la Alexander.
Conclusions.
Endnote.
11. LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Introduction.
The effects of leaders on their organizations.
Different leaders, same results.
The architectural aspect of leadership.
The charismatic role of leaders.
Conclusions.
Endnote.
12. REAPING THE WHIRLWIND: MANAGING CREATIVE PEOPLE.
Introduction.
Characteristics of creative people.
Stimulating creativity.
Playing in a transitional world.
Two roads to creativity.
Creative management.
Watching for the danger signs.
Endnote.
PART IV: LEADERSHIP IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT.
INTRODUCTION.
13. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL LEADER WITHIN THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION.
Introduction.
A case study in internationalization.
Forms of global organizations.
Qualities needed in global leaders.
Training, transfer, teamwork, and travel.
A framework for analyzing the development of the global leader.
Conclusions.
Endnote.
14. IN SEARCH OF THE NEW EUROPEAN BUSINESS LEADER.
Introduction.
The challenge of diversity.
Internal and external competition.
Is a single model possible?
A middle path.
Dealing with change.
The making of the European leader.
Leadership in Europe and beyond.
Endnote.
15. LESSONS FROM THE ′WILD EAST′: RUSSIAN CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP.
The Russian character.
Contextual factors in the formation of the Russian character.
Russia’s transition: from cooperatives to capitalism.
New leaders and new followers.
Eight leadership lessons.
Challenges for global Russian business leaders.
The