Reflections on Leadership and Career Development - On the Couch with Manfred Kets de Vries

Striving for the authentizotic organization In this series Manfred Kets de Vries failed engineer, entrepreneur manqué, reluctant economist, international management guru, psychoanalyst, professor of leadership, wit, and outdoorsman offers an overview of his work spanning four decades, a period in which he has established himself as the leading figure in the clinical study of leadership and organizations. At a key point in his career, working as he puts it, "in the twilight zone of economics, management, and psychoanalysis," he decided to strike out on a little–trodden path and "bring the person back into the organization." Today Kets de Vries occupies a unique position in the academic business world, putting leaders and companies on the couch and working at the often intimate interface between the inner theater of the individual and the outer world of the organization. The third book in this series, Reflections on Groups and Organizations, broadens Ket de Vries s canvas and examines concepts of organizational health, performance, and change. Material ranges from studies of high–performance teams based on time the author spent with the pygmies of central Africa to the study of organizational stars, to the use of coaching interventions to improve personal and organizational functioning. Reflections on Groups and Organizations looks at the interpersonal and group processes that determine how organizations work within specific contexts, including family firms. It includes studies on dysfunctional leader–follower relationships, downsizing, and organizational transformation. Kets de Vries introduces his concept of the authentizotic organization a creative, healthy, well–functioning workplace that offers fun and meaning to its members. "A mischievous smile quietly provoking thoughtful introspection through minimalistic articulation." Anand Sen, Vice President, Tata Steel TQM & Shared Services