Books
Professor Kets de Vries is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 30 books, over 300 scientific papers, and approximately 100 case studies. He is a regular contributor to publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Economist, Financial Times, and International Herald Tribune. His books and articles have been translated into 31 languages.
Click on book cover image thumbnails to read about specific books.
List of Books:
The Coaching Kaleidoscope: Insights from the Inside (2009)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Laura Guillen, Konstantin Korotov & Elizabeth Florent-Treacy (editors)
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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The book deals with how coaching interventions can drive a journey of transformational change at individual, team and organizational levels. As a result, coaching interventions serve to create more reflective people, who in turn, create better organizations. The group coaching methodology, as used by the IGLC and adopted by the Center for Leadership Development Research at ESMT, is the basis for developing the theoretical assumptions of the chapters. Through sharing the research methodologies, and describing intervention and change techniques used in leadership development and education of executive coaches, the book sheds light on how the “magic” of coaching works, what coaches actually do, and how their clients respond.
This book is a joint project between the INSEAD Global Leadership Centre (IGLC), INSEAD and the Center for Leadership Development Research (CLDR) at the European School of Technology and Management (ESMT), Berlin. In compiling this book we have involved academics who conduct research, teach and consult; leadership development coaches; change consultants; and executives who adopted IGLC methods for reflection on leadership development opportunities and challenges. We have also included people who have experienced IGLC methods in the process of their developmental journeys; they have collaborated, consulted their research and practice notes, analyzed data from inquiry projects, and shared their personal experiences in individual essays.
Reflections on Leadership and Career Development (2009)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Reflections on Leadership and Career Development is the second of the three books in the Manfred Kets de Vries on the Couch series.
Here, Kets de Vries takes an in-depth look at the way basic psychological processes operate on individual and corporate performance and analyses these in the context of case studies of leaders and organizations, including a lengthy study of Vladimir Putin, as “CEO of Russia, Inc.”. The third part of the book examines the career life cycle and how executives cope (or fail to cope) with rites de passage like succession and retirement.
The chapters in this book take different perspectives on the intimate connection between individuals’ personality or “inner theatre” and the organizational context in which they work, – how different personality types, in positions of leadership or as members of management teams, affect the functioning and success of organizations.
Reflections on Character and Leadership (2009)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Bringing the person back into the organization
In the books in this series Manfred Kets de Vries - failed engineer, entrepreneur manqué, reluctant economist, international management guru, psychoanalyst, 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 organizational leadership.
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.” Now 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 where the inner theater of the individual meets the outer world of the organization.
The first book in this series, Reflections on Character and Leadership, examines some major contemporary issues about leadership. What makes a leader? What is good leadership? And what is bad? What happens to organizations if a leader derails? What are the impacts of successful and failed leadership on followers and organizations? How must organizational leadership respond to globalism and the opening of new markets?
Kets de Vries looks at the way various dysfunctional character types are thrown into sharp focus against an organizational background. Among the heroes and villains in this book are Alexander of Macedon, Shaka Zulu, Richard Branson, Jack Welch - and numerous executives who have spent time, literally or metaphorically, on the author’s famous couch.
Sex, Money, Happiness and Death: The Quest for Authenticity (2009)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by Palgrave
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Click here to read a chapter and learn more about the book
Manfred Kets de Vries takes readers out of their comfort zone in his latest book, which has grown out of his conviction that many business academics have lost touch with the people they should be trying to help. His aim is twofold: to persuade executives take time out to reflect on what really counts in their lives; and to shake academics down from their ivory towers and make them more attuned to the real problems of real people, instead of trying to impress each other.
Like Kets de Vries’s other work in psychoanalysis and leadership development, the essays in this book were inspired by stories told him by executives. But they are not just business stories: the problems these stories identify are about the really big things in life—sex, money, happiness and death. “The time is right to deal with these issues,” he says, “as I am no longer young enough to know everything.”
We all struggle with the sometimes conflicting demands of biology and society; the confusion of self-worth and net worth; and the anxiety about whether what we are doing and where we are going will make us happy. And we all have to face the fact of death. In the most personal essay in this collection, Kets de Vries examines how we manage that knowledge and confrontation through an account of his own grief following the death of his mother.
Kets de Vries believes that “we stay young by focusing on our dreams rather than on our regrets.” The book ends with an appeal for us all to live our lives authentically, to look forward, and to capture our own dreams.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Seks & Geld, Geluk & Dood". Published by Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds.
- Hungarian. Published by Manager Publishing.
- Italian as "Sesso denaro felicità: il senso della vita (e della morte) per manager e non solo". Publication forthcoming by Etas.
- Chinese translation forthcoming. Published by Oriental Press.
- Russian. Publication forthcoming by Alpina.
Family Business on the Couch: A Psychological Perspective (2007)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries & Randel Carlock with Elizabeth Florent-Treacy
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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The family business is pulled in several directions. Individual family members involved with it will strive to create opportunities for themselves, as well as financial gain and rewarding relationships. Their desires and motivations will affect the company. Then there are structural conflicts between the operating principles of a family and their business. However, the two systems are interdependent: the family’s values and behavior affect the company’s policies and decisions; and the company influences family members’ careers, relationships and finances. The mingling of family and business systems in a family enterprise explains why drawing on both the psychodynamic and the family systems approach has proved to be extremely helpful in addressing family business issues that fall outside the boundaries of traditional management theory.
In this book, ideas from the psychodynamic and family systemic approaches are integrated with an existing body of literature on leadership, executive behavior, decision-making, group dynamics, organizational stress, power and politics, organizational design, organizational culture, strategy, and organizational development and consultation, to offer new perspectives on family business functioning. The application of concepts derived from these psychological paradigms to more traditional management theory discloses patterns that can be woven into a unified gestalt, helping us to explain the psychodynamics of life in family businesses.
Also Available in:
- Portuguese. Publication forthcoming by Artmed Editora.
- Arabic. Publication forthcoming by ArabScientific Publishers.
- French. Publication forthcoming by Henry Dougier, eds. Autrement.
- Chinese. Publication forthcoming by Hu’nan Tangel Publishing Co. Ltd.
Coach and Couch: The Psychology of Making Better Leaders (2007)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Florent-Treacy & Konstantin Korotov
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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This book is an edited volume of essays written by IGLC-INSEAD professors and leadership coaches, on diverse topics relevant to leadership development: academic investigation, pedagogical mastery, consulting experience, and practitioner expertise. The authors draw on their multi-year research, observation, trial-and-error experimentation, and real-life implementation of leadership development processes in business schools and companies, and by leadership coaches and individual executives.
The book presents the essential leadership models and approaches used at IGLC. Through sharing the research methodologies, and describing intervention and change techniques used in leadership development and education of executive coaches, the book contributes to a better understanding of how people become extraordinary leaders, and equips practitioners with ideas and tools for developing executive coaches and working with business leaders.
Also Available in:
- Japanese. Published by Palgrave Macmillan & Firstpress Inc.
- Portuguese as "Experiências e técnicas de Coaching a formação de líderes na prática". Published by Serie Bookman.
The Leader on the Couch (2006)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Despite the proven benefits of emotional intelligence, organizational life has typically been hostile to the inner world of feeling. Rationality is deemed superior to feeling, which can contaminate judgment. But without feeling there is no passion, and no action.
This book sets out to change people and organizations for the better, by revealing the ‘dark side’ of leadership behavior and its impact on performance.
Tapping into the startling parallels between the journey to emotional intelligence, the process of psychoanalysis, the practice of leadership coaching and the Zen journey to enlightenment, renowned thinker Manfred Kets de Vries helps executives, consultants, and coaches to peel back the layers of self-deception and reveal how inner personality–largely hard-wired since early childhood–affects the way they lead and manage others.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Wat Leiders Drijft: een klinische benadering van gedragsverandering in organisaties". Published by Nieuwezijds.
- Estonian as "Lider Sohval: Kliiniline lähenemine inimeste ja organisatsioonide muutmisele". Published by Äripäev Raamat
- Russian publication forthcoming by Best Business Books.
- Romanian publication forthcoming.
- Finnish as "Johtaja Terapeutin Sohvalla: Lisää Tunneälyä Organisaatioon". Published by Edita Publishing Oy.
- Lithuanian as "Lyderis Pas Psichoanalitiką; Kaip pažinti save ir vadovauti kitiems". Published by Verslo Zinios.
- Polish publication forthcoming by Wolters Kluwer Polska Sp. Z o.o.
Lessons on Leadership by Terror:
Finding a Shaka Zulu in the Attic (2005)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by Edward Elgar
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Professor Manfred Kets de Vries takes us inside the despotic mind to understand what their actions are all about; to comprehend the source of their actions; to recognize the danger signs; and to help create checks and balances. He studies the kind of psychological processes that contribute to political terror and the nature of group behavior associated with this phenomenon. He analyzes the special psychological interplay that occurs between despotic leaders and their followers, and scrutinizes the mind-set of such leaders. Making sense of the inner theatre of such leaders will not only help to better understand the nature of despotism and totalitarian states, but also create greater awareness of what effective and ineffective leadership is all about.
For the purpose of representation, one of the most controversial African leaders of all times has been selected: Shaka Zulu. In 12 short years this warrior-king, sometimes called the "Black Napoleon" or "African Attila", conquered a territory that was larger than Western Europe. His unification of the many tribes of the South African region and his efforts are directly credited with saving that region from European domination during his lifetime. As the observations made about Shaka Zulu are quite diverse in content, episodes in his life are selected to provide insight into his personality, with attention given to his background, developmental history and his leadership style.
In analyzing Shaka Zulu's personality and behavior, a clinical perspective will help to untangle the relationship between child and man, between personal peculiarities and public acts, concepts of developmental psychology, family systems theory, cognitive theory, dynamic psychiatry, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis (particularly object relations and self-psychology) to better understand his behavior and actions. Psychological dimensions relevant to his leadership style are highlighted and analyzed in the context of the socio-political environment of the Zulu culture at that period in time.
Shaka's life history allows us to better understand the psychology of terror. He is a proxy for the behavior of any despot, from antiquity or modern times. Although we are used to lionizing great warriors, and excusing their excesses, the behavior of this warrior-king demonstrated a considerable amount of psychopathology. As in the case of many tyrants, the case of Shaka illustrates the megalomania, paranoia, sadism, tactics of terror, and ultimately, the flawed reality testing that characterizes the lives of many such people. His life story illustrates the collusive group dynamics between leaders and led, and the levers of power created by such individuals needed to maintain their despotic, totalitarian regimes. Kets de Vries reflects on the psychology of violence, demystifies the nobility of war, and discusses the measures that can be taken to prevent despots and their governments from terrorizing a population.
Also Available in Dutch as "De Geest Van Despotisme: Shaka Zoeloe En De Psychologie Van Tirannieke Macht". Published by Nieuwezijds.
The New Russian Business Leaders (2004)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries with Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Konstantin Korotov & Stanislav Shekshnia
Published by Edward Elgar
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Awarded the Russian Diploma Best Books for Entrepreneurs in 2006.
The authors present six in-depth case studies focusing on companies of vastly differing sizes, ranging from a newly privatized operation and the creation and organization of an oligarch's empire, to several entrepreneurial start-ups in different service industries.
The case studies document the changes and developments that have occurred in Russia since the privatization era of the 1990s, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the emerging business leadership orientations. Grounded in Russian culture and history, the book takes a balanced view of the rapid development and transformation of the country's business leadership over the past ten years.
The authors also offer perceptive conclusions and practical advice that will not only contribute to the success of Western businesses operating in Russia and other former communist countries in Eastern Europe, but also help business people in Eastern Europe create high performance organizations.
As we move towards a global economy, the need to recognize executive behavior in Russia is becoming increasingly important. This book will provide a great source of information for academics and researchers of entrepreneurship, leadership studies and international business. Although the focus is on Russian entrepreneurs, the lessons in the book are equally as relevant for other cultures and leadership styles.
Also Available in Russian. Published by Mockba.
Are Leaders Born or Are They Made:
The Case of Alexander the Great (2004)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries & Elisabet Engellau
Published by Karnac Books
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Alexander the Great's life has recently been transformed, yet again, into a Hollywood production. This time, with a swarthy Irishman as Alexander and a sultry young American actress in the role of his ambitious mother, Olympias. Looking at the unfavorable critiques received, rather than shelling out money on a perhaps dubious rendition of his life and personality, why not invest a similar amount and get something far more worthwhile... and lasting.
That something would be this book: Are Leaders Born or are They Made? The Case of Alexander the Great. Not only is there an easy-to-read overview of all the key events and people in Alexander's extraordinary life, but also excellent references to source material for those wanting to know more.
And even better, we also get a long look into the workings of his head and his heart. What factors came into play that allowed Alexander to be such a powerful and unique leader? What could have possibly held him back from even further triumphs and what could have triggered some of his leadership errors?
Taking a clinical approach, INSEAD's Professor of Leadership Development and The Raoul de Vitry d'Avaucourt Chaired Clinical Professor of Management and Leadership, Manfred Kets de Vries, puts all his professional weight into an incisive view of Alexander's psyche. With Elisabet Engellau, Kets de Vries takes readers on a psychologically guided tour of the short but very eventful three decades of Alexander's amazing life, examining the forces that shaped and motivated him.
As a learning tool, this book is invaluable. Alexander provides lessons in effective leadership as well as areas for introspection and question when things did not seem to go his way. Although this is a 2,400 year-old study area, the very force of Alexander's leadership makes him a timeless subject of interest, as Hollywood will certainly attest. The application of clinical concepts such as psychotherapy and dynamic psychiatry allow the reader to appreciate, in a more coherent and scientifically informed way, what made Alexander who he was, and therefore what makes great leaders in general.
A truly valuable read for leaders, would-be leaders, management consultants, coaches, students and just about anyone who would appreciate an intelligent and educative portrayal of one of history's leadership giants: Alexander the Great.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Het Leiderschap Van Alexander De Grote". Published by Nieuwezijds.
- Japanese publication forthcoming by Japan East Press.
The Happiness Equation (2002)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by Random House
Republished in English by iUniverse
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For most of us, the pursuit of happiness is the ultimate goal of existence: it gives us hope and a reason for living, motivating us to go on in spite of life's setbacks. Through coaching work with senior executives, Manfred Kets de Vries discovered that many of them lacked self-knowledge and as a result had suffered from profound periods of unhappiness. He concluded that self-knowledge and the pursuit of happiness are inextricably linked and that in the absence of self-knowledge, true happiness will always elude us.
In this book, each of these three dimensions is reviewed. The need to achieve balance in life is explored. The dichotomy between outward success and inner success is looked at. The importance of play in people's lives is examined. The role of stress, another important topic in the happiness equation, is investigated. It is argued that in the search for happiness, humankind's exploratory needs have to be taken into consideration; people have to strive for authenticity; and an effort needs to be made to know oneself.
His work has revealed the four keys to happiness: maintain a positive state of mind, be self-reliant and use your initiative, accept that self-pity and quitting don't bring happiness, and strive to feel in control.
Also Available in:
- Estonian as "Õnne Valem: Mõtteid õnnest ja edust". Published by Pegasus.
- Russian. Published by Alpina.
- Hungarian as "A boldogság egyenlete: Töprengések a Boldogságról és a Sikerről, Helikon".
- Dutch as "Het Geluk: Een Handleiding". Published by Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds.
- Russian as an audio version. Published by Mann, Ivanov & Feber.
- French as "L’Equation du Bonheur". Published by Eyrolle.
Struggling with the Demon:
Perspectives on Individual and Organizational Irrationality (2001)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by International Universities Press
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The author begins with a close look at the individual by studying the inner world of a single entrepreneur. Readers are given a rare insight into an executive's inner theater. Next he discusses the implications of hypomaniacs and alexythymics and the effects of their interpersonal styles within today's organizations. He follows with an examination of the issues relating to the midlife, including depersonalization and the common dysfunctional pattern in which the individual finds little or no pleasure in job performance.
From a case study that clinically probes the inner world of the entrepreneur to a new look at the emotional impact of downsizing and methods executives can use to facilitate a downsizing operation, Struggling with the Demon examines the search for meaning in human activity and highlights the values that foster commitment and involvement and, ultimately, success.
Also Available in
- Dutch as "Worstelen met de Demon: Over Emoties. Irrationaliteit en Oonbewuste Processen in Mens en Organisatie". Published by Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds
- Italian as "L’Organizzazione Irrazionale: La Dimensione Nascosta Del Comportamenti Organizzativi". Published by Rafaello Cortina Editore.
The Leadership Mystique (revised edition 2006)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by Pearson Publishing
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Organizations are like automobiles. They don't run themselves, except downhill.
Successful leadership today demands very different behavior from the conventional leadership tradition we are used to. It requires leaders who speak to the collective imagination of their people, co-opting them to join in the business journey; leaders who are able to motivate people to full commitment and spur them on to make that extra effort. It's all about human behavior. It's about understanding the way people and organizations behave, about creating relationships, about building commitment, and about adapting your behavior to lead in a creative and motivating way.
So, stop right now and ask yourself what you're doing about the leadership factor. How do you execute your own leadership style? Whether you work on the shop floor or have a corner office on the top floor of a shimmering skyscraper, what have you done today to be more effective as a leader?
There are no quick answers to leadership questions, and there are no easy solutions. In fact, the more we learn the more it seems there is to learn. In The Leadership Mystique, management and psychology guru Manfred Kets de Vries unpicks the many layers of complexity that underlie effective leadership, and gets to the heart of the day-to-day behavior of leading people in the human enterprise. Assess your own leadership qualities with the probing self-questionnaires and learn how to develop your skills for maximum impact as a leader.
" This is a book that any senior executive will find enlightening, as it peels back the layers of self-deception to reveal how our hidden personalities, largely hard-wired since early childhood, affect the way we lead and manage others."
- Carol Kennedy, Director magazine
"This book is a real gem. The author writes with flair and precision…. I recommend this book very highly. It is clear, timely and accessible. Kets de Vries is a master of the elusive topic of leadership. For the busy manager and consultant, it is a valuable balance to a growing library that merely idealizes and idolizes leadership."
- HR Monthly, Australia
Also Available in:
- Turkish as "Liderliğin Gizemi". Published by by BZD Yayin va lletism Hizmetleri.
- Chinese. Published by People Press/ Oriental Press.
- Polish. Published by Wolters Kluwer Polska Sp. Z o.o..
- Croatian as "Tajna vodstva: Ponašanje vođa u poduzetništvu". Published by Profil Publishing House.
- French as "La face Cachée du Leadership". Published by Village Mondial Pearson Education.
- Dutch as "Leiderschap Ontraadseld: Tweede Herziene Druk". Published by Sdu Uitgevers bv.
- In Romanian as "Leadership Arta şi măiestria de a conduce: de la paradigna clinică la pragmatismul schimbării". Published by Codecs.
- Russian. Published by Alpina.
The New Global Leaders (1999)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries with Elizabeth Florent-Treacy
Published by Jossey-Bass
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Spend some time with three of today's most noted business pioneers and share their secrets for achieving international success. The New Global Leaders takes readers into the private worlds of Virgin founder Richard Branson, ABB's Percy Barnevik and British Petroleum titan David Simon to provide candid accounts of how each has managed to redefine organizational growth and development in the late 20th century. Here, for the first time, are compiled the amazing philosophies, visions and strategies that have made them outstanding models of leadership for our post-industrial era.
"A masterful work that gives us insights into the key issues, fears and decisions of three global leaders. The analyses, case studies, and interviews by Kets de Vries and Florent-Treacy reveal more about these men than they might of realized."
- Ron Bolger, Chairman, Telecom Eireann
"Clearly written and using the leaders' own words from interviews, this book lets readers debate with themselves, colleagues, the three leaders themselves, and the authors those qualities of mind, personality and organizational architecture that are associated with success."
- Abraham Zaleznik, Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership Emeritus, Harvard Business School
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Leiderschap van Wereldklasse". Published by Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds.
- Czech as "Noví Globální Lídři". Published by Management Press S.R.O.
- Chinese Orthodox. Published by Global Group Holdings, Sitak Publishing Group.
- Spanish. Published by Grupo Editorial Norma.
- Slovak. Published by Gospodarski Vestnik.
- Thai. Published by A. R. Business Press Co. Ltd.
Life and Death in the Executive Fast Lane:
Essays on Irrational Organizations and Their Leaders (1995)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by Jossey-Bass
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Received the 1995 - 96 Critics' Choice Award
World-renowned management guru and expert in corporate neurosis Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries puts organizations on the couch. By combining the dismal science of management and the impossible profession of psychoanalysis, Kets de Vries presents eclectic advice on how things really work in organizations.
These brief and insightful essays not only decipher problems that are common in organizational life, but they also shed light on some of the underlying dimensions that often go unnoticed.
Kets de Vries covers everything from leadership and entrepreneurship to downsizing and managing acquisitions, using contemporary examples like Robert Maxwell, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Robert Coles, and John Gardner.
A bedside read for all who experience the dysfunctional aspects of todays workplace, this collection of brief and insightful essays not only deciphers problems that are common in organizational life, but also sheds light on some of the underlying dimensions that often go unnoticed.
The author makes sense out of specific behaviors, stories, myths, rituals and jokes to help people understand the conflicts, anxieties, defenses and tensions that constantly arise. This book covers everything from leadership through entrepreneurship to families in business, change and downsizing, women as leaders, balancing work and pleasure, and managing acquisitions, using contemporary examples.
Also Available in:
- German as "Leben und Sterben im Business". Published by Econ.
- Dutch as "Leven en Dood in de Directie Kamer". Published by Scriptum.
- Spanish as "La Conducta del Directivo". Published by Ediciones Deusto.
- Korean. Published by Korean Journalistic Information Publishing Co.
- Japanese. Published by Sogen Sha Publishers.
- Italian as "Vita e Morte del Manager Rampante". Published by II Sole 24 Ore S.p.A.
Leaders, Fools, and Impostors (1993)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by Jossey-Bass
Republished by iUniverse
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In this book of insightful essays, Kets de Vries explodes the myth that rationality is what governs the behavior of leaders and followers; he also provides a more realistic perspective on organizational functioning and the leader-follower relationship. The author shows that a great potential for distortion exists when leaders try to act out the fantasies of their followers, and explores the many psychological traps into which leaders frequently fall.
Citing examples from business, history, literature, the arts, and from his own psychoanalytic and management-consulting practice, the author identifies distinct leader types. He describes, for instance, the narcissist whose drive for power and prestige can bring much-needed vitality to an organization, but whose inability to accept criticism ultimately creates a climate of subservience. He shows that entrepreneurs possess many of the qualities of the impostor, including a capacity for self-dramatization and a deep understanding of how to profit by others' wishes and desires, and he explains why entrepreneurs sometimes distort the truth about themselves and their organizations.
Through numerous case studies of successful and failed leaders, Leaders, Fools and Impostors furthers a better understanding of the leader-follower dynamic, and gives leaders the means to transform themselves.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Leiders, Narren en Bedriegers: Essays over de Psychologie Van Het Leiderschap". Published by Scriptum.
- French as "Leaders, Fous et Imposteurs". Published by Editions Eska.
- Italian as "Leader, giullari e impostori: Sulla psicologia della leadership". Published by Raffaello Cortina Editori.
- Polish as "Przywodcy, Blazny I Oszusci". Published by Centrum Kreowania Liderow.
- German as "Verlag Internationale Psychoanalyse". Republished in German Führer, Narren und Hochstapler, by Klett-Cotta.
- Japanese. Published by Sogensha Publishers.
- Russian. Published by Aquamarine Books.
Organizations on the Couch,
Perspectives on Organizational Behavior and Change (1991)
by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries
Published by Jossey-Bass
This volume introduces the work of a number of leading scholars interested in the clinical approach to organizational analysis. The book will help the human resource management professional to design organizations that work and to introduce more realistic organizational systems and structures.
For the student of management, the book provides a deeper understanding of human motivation and action within organizations. It helps in identifying the paradoxical rationale behind irrational behavior, and consequently furthers the development of more realistic models of organizational functioning.
The author suggests ways in which management consultants can improve their handling of organizational diagnosis, intervention, and change processes and shows how mental health professionals, such as industrial and organizational psychologists, organizational sociologists, industrial social workers, occupational psychiatrists, and clinical organizational psychologists can assist their clients in diffusing irrational behavior and stress in organizations.
Finally, this book will help the enlightened business practitioner who wants to deepen his or her understanding of organizational decision-making, culture, leadership style, organizational stress, and the general individual-organization interface.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Organisaties op de divan". Published by Scriptum Books.
- Japanese publication forthcoming by Kameda Book Service.
Handbook of Character Studies: Psychoanalytic Explorations (1991)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries & Sidney Perzow
Published by International Universities Press
This book provides a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge in the field of psychoanalytic character studies. While psychoanalysis is implicit about character and its vicissitudes, there has been a reluctance to pursue the area systematically. This volume corrects the problem by bringing together an impressive list of original, classical, and representative contributions by leading and innovative psychoanalytic theoreticians.
This collection by distinguished contributors to the field contains the most important material about character relevant for clinical practice. In looking at character from many different angles, Handbook of Character Studies gives invaluable insight into this critical area of inquiry. As such, this book will be of great value to a broad range of people in the helping professions, including psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, social workers, physicians, and many others.
Prisoners of Leadership (1989)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by Wiley
Corporate leaders are our contemporary heroes and villains. We thrill to the successes of a Lee Iacocca or Armand hammer – and are appalled by the excesses of Wall Street executives. We confront the organizational progeny of these and other larger-than-life figures every day at work. Leadership is seductive.
What makes one corporate leader succeed while another fails? What inner resources allow one to bring a dying company back to life, while another drives a thriving enterprise into the ground? Leadership is best measured by a leader’s response to the countless major and minor “booby traps” that go off in every office every day. This book analyzes theses situational and psychological responses in a way that is unique in the literature of business.
Prisoners of Leadership goes well beyond the clichés that have come to stand for leadership “style”, and probes the inner theatre that causes a leader to choose certain courses of action.
Noted author Manfred Kets de Vries brings his sharp analytical skills to bear on:
• The ways in which leaders become prisoners of their internal psychic theatres.
• The complex psychological forces in play between a leader and his or her followers.
• Why leaders often self-destruct in unfamiliar situations.
Leaders can – at different times – be masters of disguise, seduction, and manipulation – but Kets de Vries explains cogently and convincingly why leaders who don’t first master themselves will never master their organizations effectively or humanely.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "De F-Factor: Psychologische Aspecten van het Leiderschap". Published by Sijthoff.
- French as "Profession Leader". Published by McGraw Hill International.
- German as Chef-Typen. Published by Gabler. T
- Finnish as "Yritysmaailman Sankarit Ja Haviajat". Published by Weilin and Goos.
- Indonesian.
- Greek. Published by Kastaniotis Editions.
Unstable at the Top (1987)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries & Danny Miller
Published by New American Library
To those managers and employees who must deal daily with an upper-echelon executive’s impulsiveness, lethargy, paranoia, depression, or Napoleonic need for conquest, this eye-opening book could be a godsend. Here, two internationally renowned management consultants reveal how neurosis in the executive suite can weaken every link in the corporate chain of command – and drive a once thriving business to the brink of collapse. With fascinating real-life company and executive case studies – from J. Elgar Hoover and Henry Ford to United Airlines and the Disney Corporation – this bold business guide offers mid-to-upper level executives a positive prescription for stopping self-destructive tendencies before they can shake the corporate structure. Provocative and insightful, challenging and readable, this ground-breaking business guide may be the key to protecting your job, securing your company’s future, and saving your sanity.
Successful organizations frequently attribute their triumphs to the foresight, intelligence, and calculation of their executives. Problems, on the other hand, are blamed on carelessness, error, or plain stupidity. In truth, both these explanations – based as they are on the assumption that managers are perfectly rational beings – often miss the mark. They miss the mark because corporate executives, like the rest of us, are not always entirely rational beings. Executives may, like anyone else, be driven by powerful, entrenched emotions, by aspirations, or by fantasies that can dramatically, and seemingly irrationally, influence the way they run their companies day by day. How often have we seen the imprint of the top manager’s personality reflected in the strategies, structures, and cultures of his or her organization? And when the personality is unsettled, chances are the organization will be as well.
The aim of Unstable at the Top is to show just how certain aspects of a CEO’s personality can affect his managerial style and contribute to the decline – sometimes temporary, sometimes not – of his organization. Kets de Vries and Miller identify five very common problematic management styles and trace their roots as well as their consequences. Then they proceed to show how these can be identified, combated, or avoided. A major premise here is that detection is at least half the cure.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Balanceren aan de Top". Published by Sijthoff.
- Swedish as "Den Neurotiske Chefen". Published by Liber.
The Neurotic Organization:
Diagnosing and Changing Counterproductive Styles of Management (1984)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries & Danny Miller
Published by Jossey-Bass
Click here to purchase
Corporations, as well as people, can be neurotic – paranoid, compulsive, depressive. Sometimes a neurosis reflects the leadership style of the top executive, but it can come to permeate the organization at all levels. At other times the neurosis has developed over the years as part of an irrational organizational culture. But whatever their origins, neuroses threaten an organization’s well-bring and even its continued survival. Unconventional measures are often needed to restore the neurotic organization to health.
This book offers an authoritative discussion of the irrational forces at work in organizations. It integrates psychiatric and psychology findings and insights with management and organizational behavior theory to reveal the underlying causes of many organizational problems. With numerous intriguing vignettes and case histories, it details five different organizational neuroses – paranoid, compulsive, dramatic, depressive, and schizoid – and shows how each affects planning, decision making, organizational cultures, and individual executives.
Based on their extensive experience as management consultants, the authors offer numerous examples and case studies that illustrate ways of diagnosing problems and promoting individual and organizational change. Revealing why organizational problems often seem intractable, they expose patterns of neurotic behavior at every level form the overall organization to departments and groups, two-person relationships, and individuals. They uncover the underlying causes behind such problematic organizational behavior as repeated abrupt changes in direction, excessive studies that never lead to action, cults of secrecy, and other counterproductive patterns. And they discuss how groups within organizations can lose touch with reality by creating shared fantasies. They also explain ways of dealing with psychological conflicts and working for positive change within organizations. Offering advice to executives at various stages in their careers, they investigate psychological barriers to growth and change – and detail ways of overcoming them.
Also Available in:
- French as "L'Entreprise Nevrosée". Published by McGraw Hill International.
- Dutch as "De Neurotische Organisatie". Published by Børsen.
- Spanish as "La Organización Neurotica". Published by Clasicos del Management, Apostrofe.
- Italian as "l'Organizzazione Neurotica". Published by Raeffaelo Corfina.
- Japanese. Published by Harper & Row.
- Parts reprinted in The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, MacLeans, The Economist, J. Pierce and J. Newstrom's The Manager's Bookshelf (Harper & Row, 1988), Gareth Morgan's Creative Organization's Theory (Sage, 1989), J-F Chanlat's L' Individu dans l'organization (Laval University Press, 1990).
The Irrational Executive:
Psychoanalytic Explorations in Management (1984)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by International Universities Press
Management theory, like economic theory in general, has until quite recently taken as its intial premise the notion of the homo optimus, a “rational actor who, like the homo economicus” or “rational consumer” of classical economic theory, seeks to maximize only those personal interests which the theory says that he or she must have. Objectively determined self-interest has taken theoretical precedence, even in our psychologically minded world, over subjectively determined self-interest. The result has been a long series of management models that are decidedly unrealistic, if not downright wrong.
The Irrational Executive is a compilation to counter this bias in management theory. Focusing on unconscious as well as conscious internal processes, and strongly influenced by contemporary psychoanalytic theory, the contributors argue persuasively against the rationalist model. Topics considered include narcissistic influences on management decision-making, transference manifestations in the corporate power structure, management by guilt and the influence of the ego ideal, and the persuasive influence of folie-à-deux at all levels of management. A section on theory examines the relationship of the individual to the corporate organization, and a closing section on organizational diagnosis considers successful attempts to effect change in management behavior.
The Irrational Executive will serve as an important reference tool not only for students of management and psychoanalytic theory, but for economists, sociologists, and industrial psychologists as well.
Organizational Paradoxes:
Clinical Approaches to Management (1980/1994)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Published by Tavistock/Methuen
New edition published by Routledge
Republished by Tavistock Publications Limited in “Classics from the Tavistock Press”
Organizational life is a territory full of dilemmas - managers are confronted with many paradoxical encounters which at first glance might seem irrational and extremely difficult to interpret.
The objective of this book is to develop a theory of organizational functioning as viewed from a clinical perspective. For that purpose psychoanalytic concepts are applied to the study of leadership behavior, organizational stress, work disorders, career, power, and authority. Special attention is given to the vicissitudes of leadership, the coercive nature of organizations, and the problem of the middle aged and aging manager.
This clinically oriented approach to management, recognizing the role of unconscious motivation, intra-psychic reality, and the limits to rationality, makes for a complex but at the same time authentic description of organizational life which directs the manager to more effective problem solving and more creative leadership.
Also Available in:
- Dutch as "Raadsels in de Organisatie". Published by Samson. 2nd Dutch edition published by Academic Service.
- Swedish as "Myten om det Rationella Ledarskapet". Published by Natur och Kultur.
Power and the Corporate Mind (1975/1985)
by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries & Abraham Zaleznik.
Published by Houghton-Mifflin
New edition published by Bonus Books
Click here to purchase
Power in organizations has two faces. One face looks outward, assessing the external sources of power in the structure of organizations, the allocation of riles, and the definition of responsibilities and rights. The other face looks inward, examining what goes on inside the power holder. The two faces are linked. Psychoanalysis reveals that the events in the external world that are significant to the power holder are mirrored within. People are products of experiences they have never relinquished. Personal history will always make its claim even though it operates silently and, paradoxically, usually beyond the individual’s awareness. Leadership revolves around these inward representations within power holders and within the people over whom they exercise power. The mutual expectations of leader and the led are a product of past experiences manifesting themselves in the present. Leaders receive attachments from those who surround them which are a legacy of their past experience. And a leader is caught up by his or her own past and the past of the organization over which he or she presides.
Also Available in Portuguese as "O Poder e a Mente Empresarial". Published by Livraria Pioneira Ediotra.