Leadership for the Disillusioned: Moving Beyond Myths and Heroes to Leading That Liberates

About theAuthor......Page 1
Contents......Page 5
Table, figure and images......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Introduction: Leadership for liberation......Page 13
Some background......Page 14
A critical understanding of leadership......Page 16
Leadership that liberates......Page 19
A different way of writing......Page 20
Overview......Page 21
PART I: WHAT'S WRONG WITH LEADERSHIP?......Page 25
1. The seduction of leadership......Page 27
How leadership seduces......Page 29
—Steve Vizard and double seduction......Page 32
Aesthetics and performance......Page 35
Gratification in leadership development......Page 36
2. What's wrong with ideas about leadership?......Page 41
A short history of recent leadership thinking......Page 42
Transformational leadership......Page 46
The military view......Page 48
Discourses......Page 50
Conventional wisdoms and critical alternatives......Page 52
3. Teaching and learning about leadership......Page 59
Learning how to teach......Page 60
Can leadership be taught?......Page 62
A liberating intent......Page 65
Risks and challenges in teaching......Page 73
PART II: PRACTICES OF LIBERATING LEADERSHIP......Page 77
4. Going back......Page 79
The neglect of backgrounds......Page 81
How childhoods are important in leadership......Page 83
Working with leaders on backgrounds......Page 88
Dependency and obedience......Page 91
—Taking a stand: Cathy Walter's story......Page 93
5. Working with power......Page 99
Three personal experiences with power......Page 100
Understandings of power......Page 106
New ways to lead with power......Page 108
6. Bringing bodies into leadership......Page 115
The importance of bodies......Page 116
Why leaders have been seen as bodiless......Page 117
Theorising bodies......Page 118
Two case studies of leadership body work......Page 119
—Chris Sarra......Page 120
—Christine Nixon......Page 127
How body work fosters liberating leadership......Page 133
7. Breath and mindfulness......Page 135
The theory and philosophy of breath......Page 136
Breathing and mindfulness in leadership......Page 138
—Beginning an MBA class with breathing......Page 141
—Resisting breathing as coercive......Page 143
—Teaching yoga at the business school......Page 144
Breathing in leadership......Page 147
PART III: GOING DEEPER......Page 149
8. The identity work of leadership......Page 151
Crafting selves......Page 152
Pressures to 'be' or find a successful self......Page 155
Solutions to identity......Page 157
An alternative view of identity work......Page 163
9. Leading with spirit......Page 169
My initiation in spiritual matters......Page 170
Spirituality in leadership......Page 172
Risks and reservations......Page 173
—Lillian Holt......Page 177
—John Wilson......Page 182
Rethinking spirituality in leadership......Page 187
10. Less-ego leadership......Page 189
Learning about ego from eastern philosophies: My introduction......Page 190
A liberating intent......Page 192
Being reflective, with less ego......Page 194
A connected relationship with others......Page 200
Cultivating a sceptical view......Page 204
Resuming the personal......Page 205
Epilogue......Page 207
Notes......Page 211
Bibliography......Page 223
Index......Page 235