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

Preface xiii

1 Introduction: The Clinical Paradigm 1

Giving the unconscious its due 3

Tapping into psychoanalytic theories and techniques 6

Philosophical underpinnings of the clinical paradigm 9

The inner theater 11

Motivational need systems 13

Core conflictual relationship themes 15

Using the clinical paradigm to rewrite dysfunctional scripts 16

References 17

Part One: Entering the Inner Theater of Leaders 21

2 The Narcissistic Leader: Myth and Reality 23

Back to the future 25

Two modern myths: healthy neglect and tough love 28

Narcissistic personality disorders 31

Another fi ne Messier 33

Lost in space: introducing the T-word 42

Downsizing the narcissist 45

References 49

3 A Parade of Personalities 51

A question of character 52

Assessing leaders and followers 56

The dramatic disposition 59

The dramatic individual within the organization 62

The controlling disposition 63

The controlling individual within the organization 68

The dependent disposition 70

The dependent individual within the organization 74

The self-defeating disposition 75

The self-defeating individual within the organization 79

References 80

4 Leaders and Followers: Moving Away From People 83

The detached disposition 84

The detached individual within the organization 91

The depressive disposition 94

Depressives within the organization 98

References 100

5 Leaders and Followers: Moving Against People 101

The abrasive disposition 103

Abrasives within the organization 106

The paranoid disposition 110

The paranoid disposition within the organization 114

The negativistic disposition 118

The negativistic individual within the organization 123

The antisocial disposition 124

Antisocials within the organization 127

Prototypes and beyond 130

Table 5.1: An overview of the spectrum of personalities 131

References 132

6 Elation and Its Vicissitudes 135

The gift and curse of charisma 138

The sirens of hypomania 142

Surviving the “maniac” 151

References 155

7 The Impostor Syndrome: The Shadow Side of Success 157

Being a fraud versus feeling fraudulent 160

The fear of success 163

The dread of not living up to expectations 166

Infecting the organization 172

A search for origins 175

The light at the end of the tunnel 177

References 184

Part Two: Changing Mindsets 187

8 Can Leaders Change? Yes, But Only If They Want To 189

Why ride a dead horse? 191

Change and the triangle of mental life 193

Figure 8.1: Triangle of mental life 193

Hitting your head against the wall 194

The CEO “recycling” seminar 196

Looking in on “the challenge of leadership” 199

Theoretical underpinnings 203

References 207

9 Taking The Road Less Traveled 211

Owning your own life 212

Challenge 1: preparing for the journey 213

Case study 215

Catalysts for change 218

Challenge 2: identifying the problem 220

Major themes for executives 221

The triangle of conflict 226

Figure 9.1: Triangle of conflict 227

Challenge 3: unhooking “false connections” 230

Figure 9.2: Triangle of relationships 231

Linking the past with the present 232

Challenge 4: creating a holding environment 234

Challenge 5: actively working on the problem 235

Restructuring the inner theater 239

Keeping on track 243

Challenge 6: consolidating the change 244

Making the best of a poor hand of cards 245

References 247

10 Coach or Couch, Anybody? 251

Who are the clients? 254

What is leadership coaching? 256

Short-term psychotherapy versus leadership coaching 258

The coaching parade 262

The fundamentals of coaching: why and how 263

What makes for coaching success? 265

The vicissitudes of leadership coaching 269

References 273

11 Group Leadership Coaching 275

A case in point 277

Getting started 279

Gathering data 280

Figure 11.1: Sample personal graph 281

Figure 11.2: Sample personality audit graph 283

Group leadership coaching dynamics 285

Creating high-EQ teams 291

Figure 11.3: Leadership group coaching 295

Making group leadership coaching work in executive teams 296

The role of commitment and follow-up 296

The role of storytelling 297

The role of trust 298

References 300

Part Three: Understanding the Psychodynamics of Groups and Organizations 303

12 The Unconscious Life of Groups and Organizations 305

Basic group assumptions 311

The organizational ideal 316

Neurotic organizations 322

Organizational archetypes 323

Strengths of each style 325

Placing leaders on the couch 327

References 328

13 Unraveling The Mystery of Organizations 331

Clinical organizational interventions 332

Focal areas of intervention 333

The prickly CEO 337

Through the looking glass: the Stratec collusion 341

Consulting with the third ear 354

Connecting with a clinically informed consultant 357

Staying in for the long haul 358

Emulating Sherlock Holmes 359

References 362

14 Conclusion: Creating “Authentizotic” Organizations 363

Transcending the leadership crisis 368

True self versus false self 369

Authenticity: beyond the gulag organization 375

References 381

Index 383