Down the Rabbit Hole of Leadership: Leadership Pathology in Everyday Life (Palgrave Kets De Vries Library)

In the previous book in this series, Manfred Kets de Vries observed the experiences of leaders on a rollercoaster ride through their professional and personal lives. Now, he follows them down the rabbit hole into the unknown, where, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, they find a dystopian Wonderland in which everyone seems to have gone mad and life functions according to its own crazy logic, throwing up all kinds of obstacles in the search for truth. Understanding what is happening around us has become more difficult than ever in the Age of Trump. Don’t imperatives like “build that wall” sound very much like “Off with his head”? Unfortunately, and unlike Alice, we are not going to wake up from a bad dream and discover that everything is “nothing but a pack of cards”. The first part of this book looks at the psychodynamics of leadership in both a business and a political context. The second focuses on the psychopathology of everyday life in organizations and the seemingly endless ways people can make a mess of things – including mega pay packages, acting out, digital addiction and other dysfunctional behaviour patterns. Each chapter ends with a brief anecdote to illustrate the dilemma it presents. In short, sharp nuggets, Kets de Vries helps make sense of how the madness of the present has affected leadership in organizations and the workplace. The Palgrave Kets de Vries Library 6 Contents 7 About the Author 10 Part I 13 1: Introduction 14 Dystopia 16 The Dark Side of Leadership 19 An Outline 20 Three Frameworks 21 Final Comments 25 2: Do You Want to Be Led by a Dictator? 27 Identification with the Aggressor 29 The Origins of Dictators 30 Creating a Responsible Electorate 31 3: Trumpmania 35 The Theater of Obsequiousness 38 Collective Angst 41 The Art of the Con 43 The Danger Signs 44 4: The Ugly American 45 5: Not All Narcissists Are Created Equal 52 Worrisome Encounters 53 6: Do You Identify with the Aggressor? 57 7: The Making of a Bully 62 8: Are You Addicted to Power? 68 9: Mission (Im)possible: Dealing with Narcissistic Executives 74 10: Developing Leaders Through Adversity 79 Part II 85 11: A Tale of Two Organizations: Creating Best Places to Work 86 The Authentizotic Organization 87 Developing Trust 88 The Clinical Paradigm: A Well-Tested Change Methodology 89 The Clinical Paradigm in Action 90 12: The CEO Mega-Pay Bonanza 92 Do CEOs Earn Their Pay? 93 The Greed Spiral 95 Understanding Greed 96 Managing the Compensation Game 97 13: The Money Delusion 100 The Psychodynamics of Money 102 14: Saving a Family Business from Emotional Dysfunction 105 Focus on the Future 107 Focus on Fair Play 107 Write a Constitution 108 Build a Strong Board 108 Deaf Ears 109 15: The Wise Fool 110 16: Down and Out in Beggarland 114 Do Do-Gooders Really Do Good? 117 Sustainable Alternatives 118 17: Don’t Let Shame Become a Self-Destructive Spiral 120 Feeling Like Damaged Goods 121 Origins of Shame 122 Dealing with Shame 123 18: What’s Pushed Out the Door Will Come Back Through the Window 126 19: What Good Is Empathy? 131 20: Are You Suffering from D.A.D.? 136 21: Accepting Your Shadow Side 141 22: Beyond Coaching BS 147 The Lofty Promises of Executive Coaching 148 Beyond the Coaching BS 150 23: What Happened to Prince and Princess Charming? 152 Attachment Behavior 155 The Rules of the Game 156 24: Why Wisdom Can’t Be Taught 158 What Is Wisdom? 159 Wisdom Can’t Be Told 161 25: What Next? 164 Roots of Human Existence 165 A Life Lived Well 166 Finding Meaning 166 What to Do? 168 26: The Epitaph Question 170 Bibliography 174 Index 176 Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 3-15 Do You Want to Be Led by a Dictator? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 17-24 Trumpmania (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 25-34 The Ugly American (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 35-41 Not All Narcissists Are Created Equal (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 43-47 Do You Identify with the Aggressor? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 49-53 The Making of a Bully (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 55-60 Are You Addicted to Power? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 61-66 Mission (Im)possible: Dealing with Narcissistic Executives (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 67-71 Developing Leaders Through Adversity (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 73-78 Front Matter ....Pages 79-79 A Tale of Two Organizations: Creating Best Places to Work (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 81-86 The CEO Mega-Pay Bonanza (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 87-94 The Money Delusion (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 95-99 Saving a Family Business from Emotional Dysfunction (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 101-105 The Wise Fool (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 107-110 Down and Out in Beggarland (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 111-116 Don’t Let Shame Become a Self-Destructive Spiral (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 117-122 What’s Pushed Out the Door Will Come Back Through the Window (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 123-127 What Good Is Empathy? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 129-133 Are You Suffering from D.A.D.? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 135-139 Accepting Your Shadow Side (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 141-146 Beyond Coaching BS (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 147-151 What Happened to Prince and Princess Charming? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 153-158 Why Wisdom Can’t Be Taught (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 159-164 What Next? (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 165-170 The Epitaph Question (Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries)....Pages 171-174 Back Matter ....Pages 175-186 In the previous book in this series, Manfred Kets de Vries observed the experiences of leaders on a rollercoaster ride through their professional and personal lives. Now, he follows them down the rabbit hole into the unknown, where, like Lewis Carroll's Alice, they find a dystopian Wonderland in which everyone seems to have gone mad and life functions according to its own crazy logic, throwing up all kinds of obstacles in the search for truth. Understanding what is happening around us has become more difficult than ever in the Age of Trump. Don't imperatives like zbuild that wally sound very much like zOff with his heady? Unfortunately, and unlike Alice, we are not going to wake up from a bad dream and discover that everything is znothing but a pack of cardsy. The first part of this book looks at the psychodynamics of leadership in both a business and a political context. The second focuses on the psychopathology of everyday life in organizations and the seemingly endless ways people can make a mess of things - including mega pay packages, acting out, digital addiction and other dysfunctional behaviour patterns. Each chapter ends with a brief anecdote to illustrate the dilemma it presents. In short, sharp nuggets, Kets de Vries helps make sense of how the madness of the present has affected leadership in organizations and the workplace