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Life and Death in the Executive Fast Lane: Essays on Irrational Organizations and Their Leaders (1995)

Manfred Kets de Vries

Life and Death in the Executive Fast Lane: Essays on Irrational Organizations and Their Leaders

This book presents eclectic advice on how things really work in organisations, by combining the dismal science of management and the impossible profession of psychoanalysis. Brief and insightful essays not only decipher problems that are common in organidational life, but they also shed 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 such as Robert Maxwell, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Robert Coles, and John Gardner.

Received the 1995 - 96 Critics' Choice Award

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.

Jossey-Bass, 1995

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