Leadership in a Changing World

Dynamic Perspectives on Groups and Their Leaders

Contributions by Joseph V. Montville, Robert H. Klein, Richard Billow, Zachary Gabriel Green, Jean Lau Chin, Vamik D. Volkan, Harold S. Bernard, Peter Gumpert, Hala Taweel, Jerrold M. Post, Jarlath Benson Edited by Robert H. Klein, Cecil A. Rice, Victor L. Schermer

Publication date:

24 August 2011

Length of book:

258 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739123973

This book addresses the major problems of leadership in groups, organizations, and societies in the twenty-first century, when rapid change, complex dilemmas, and earth-shattering consequences affect the daily lives of people in the diverse contexts of social institutions, the corporate world, domestic politics, and international terrorism and conflict. The volume convenes a group of distinguished scholars, consultants, and leaders who address significant contemporary dilemmas that test the skills and knowledge of all concerned individuals. Benjamin Disraeli said, "I am their leader; therefore I must follow them." This book speaks directly to that intimate connection between leaders and followers. The organizing principle of the book is a 'group systems' understanding of leadership further elaborated through the relational and intersubjective concepts emerging in the fields of counseling, dynamic psychiatry, and psychotherapy. This interdisciplinary approach both complements and contrasts with the traditional understanding of leadership based on the dynamics of individual and collective self-interest.

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 Introduction: Co-creating In-depth Leadership for a New Millennium
Part 4 Part I: Concepts and Theories
Chapter 5 Chapter 1: Modes of Leadership: Diplomacy, Sincerity, and Authenticity
Chapter 6 Chapter 2: What the I May See: Leadership, Identity, and Representation
Chapter 7 Chapter 3: The Dynamics of Gender, Race, and Leadership
Chapter 8 Chapter 4: Some Psychoanalytic Views on Leaders with Narcssistic Personality Organization and Their Roles in Large-Group Processes
Part 9 Part II: Case Studies
Chapter 10 Chapter 5: The Co-Creation of Current and Prospective Political Leadership in America: 9/11, the Bush Years, and the 2008 Race for the Presidency
Chapter 11 Chapter 6: Managing Systemic and Leadership Problems in a Corporate Setting: A Case Study
Chapter 12 Chapter 7: Lessons in Leadership and Conflict Resolution: Working with Palestinians and Israelis in a Conjoint Educational Effort
Chapter 13 Chapter 8: When Hatred is Bred in the Bone: Terrorist Group Dynamics and the Psycho-cultural Foundations of Contemporary Terrorism
Chapter 14 Chapter 9: The Role of Idealization and Mirroring in Creating a Mutual Regulatory Symbiosis between Leaders and Groups in the Northern Ireland Conflict and Peace Process

These cogently edited papers by experienced and knowledgeable experts in their special disciplines explore and illuminate the co-creation of leadership in various kinds of social systems, ranging from small therapy groups to nation-states. This is a timely, useful and entirely relevant contribution to the knowledge and wisdom that humankind will desperately need for surviving the challenges of the 21st Century. This book makes creative use of societal trauma in exploring dynamics and solutions of leadership and conflict...