The pandemic dramatically changed the way people worked in a multitude of ways. But with everyone operating on overdrive in a world full of anxiety, it wasn't always easy or obvious to identify what people had been missing from the rhythm of office life.
During one of their regular discussions, KDVI associates Elizabeth McCourt and Claire Finch realised they'd both been missing out on the laughter and connection that comes from interacting with people at work. Here they explore the impact that laughter can have in the workplace, the types of humour that can enhance work relationships, and the role leaders have in establishing a cultural environment that enables organisations to reap the benefits of a good chuckle.
KDVI, Apr 2022
Blogs
The COVID 19 crisis has forced people into working in virtual spaces. These spaces, and how we work in them, are now becoming hybrid and emergent - but are they emerging in a good way?
KDVI, Jul 2021
Blogs
At KDVI, our job is to support the development of human, healthy workplaces, these days with a special focus on mental wellbeing, resilience, and psychological safety. We believe it is a time to renew clarity of purpose and sense of meaning through work and life, asking the questions “What are we ambitious for? What do we hope for now? What impact do we want to have?”
Blogs
Crisis forces people and companies to adapt and change. Covid-19 is particular because of its global impact; consequences are magnified both personally and collectively. Large scale disruptions can expose our fault lines and vulnerabilities and push us to challenge and question existing mindsets and behaviours. While traumatic, it can also elevate and bring to the fore different leadership behaviours.
Blogs
At this critical junction in the history of humankind, leaders that are proficient in magical thinking aren’t going to solve our problems. Creating alternative realities is not the answer. We need a very different kind of leadership―leaders who can resist the calls of regression and whose outlook is firmly based in reality. We need leaders who analyse and draw conclusions from, or use their own experiences as a development tool, face their strengths and weaknesses, and critique their own experiences in order to build new understandings.
The Palgrave Kets de Vries Library, Nov 2020
Books
a reminder that democracies are very fragile configurations
Following Jonathan Swift’s satirical example of a “modest” proposal, this paradoxical article examines the question of having leaders for life. Throughout, it employs the tools of satire to outline the presumed advantages of a leaders-for-life system, revealing that, in reality, it is fraught with danger. In a circuitous way, the article makes clear that having leaders for life is an invitation for social unrest and economic decline. By presenting a number of examples of leaders for life, it becomes clear that the overriding concern is the ever-present danger of the abuse of power. Without the existence of term limits, there will be an increased prevalence of rights abuses, secret or arbitrary arrests and detentions, restrictions on freedom of expression, and police brutality. Furthermore, it is suggested that kleptocratic practices are par for the course.
INSEAD Knowledge, Jul 2020
Working Papers
Good leadership requires self-aware and vulnerable leaders
The coronavirus crisis facilitates the rise of autocratic and narcissistic leaders just when we least need them.
When asked what the post-Covid world might look like, French author Michel Houellebecq said, “The same – only worse.” While the quip is funny on the surface, there is indeed reason for all of us to wonder where the world is headed.
INSEAD Knowledge, Jul 2020
Blogs
Our journey together through the pandemic can lead us down a path of division or a more hopeful path of mutual responsibility, reconciliation and true renewal, ensuring healthier organisations and a better society for our children and future generations. In his latest book Journeys through Coronavirus Land, Manfred Kets de Vries takes us through his ruminations during confinement, widening his explorations into group phenomenon, leadership and organisational dynamics and economic and environmental crisis. The central question is, how have each of us responded to this adversity and where will this journey lead us, individually and collectively?
This book is available as a free download. A donation to Unicef Save Generation Covid i strongly encouraged..
Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Jul 2020
Books
The spontaneous eruption of musical offerings in the shadow of the Covid-19 crisis is a phenomenon that we have all witnessed and are aware of. But what if anything, do these musical offerings invoke and what in general does music offer us? This blog explores how music can add an element of playfulness to a reflective journey that can deepen ones understanding of self and how you are perceived by others.
KDVI Research Lab, May 2020
Blogs
In the Covid-19 crisis digital communication technologies (DCTs) are our saviour. They enable us to continue to work remotely and not to fall into complete social isolation despite physical distancing measures. Indeed, many have now rekindled lost friendships and thanks to DCTs, family, friends and colleagues are just one click away. But are our digital devices really always our friend during this stressful time?
Caroline Rook, KDVI Research Associate & Lecturer in Leadership at Henley Business School, May 2020
Blogs
More than a decade ago, medical experts already warned that a pandemic like the coronavirus was bound to happen. Unfortunately, nobody paid attention. In spite of our lack of foresight, the more pressing question is what the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic is going to look like? There is no crystal ball for the future; what we do sense is that things are going to be different. When the crisis subsides, do we go back to normal? Or does Covid-19 provide us with an important learning experience?
KDVI Writer's Colony, Apr 2020
Blogs
Whether you might be feeling pressure of navigating a virtual work environment, managing your team or even working on your own leadership issues, we thought it would help to share what we’re learning so it might help you to reflect on what you’re learning too. When we learn something from one client or colleague, we can share that reflection to help another. In that way we “pay the learning forward” and find new ways to collaborate and inspire each other.
KDVI Writer's Colony, Apr 2020
Blogs
Like you, we’ve been talking, reading and experiencing a large volume of information about leadership in crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic is leveling, because it has an impact on everyone in the world. What we can learn from each other during this time truly inspired this blog series and I’m grateful to be able to share these words with the hope they inspire you too.
KDVI Writer's Colony, Apr 2020
Blogs
A volunteer’s identity is just based on ‘who you are’ and not ‘what you do’ or ‘what you represent’ through status, title or other attributes. This is both rewarding and humbling.
KDVI Writer's Colony, Mar 2020
Blogs
The importance of paying attention to life cycles.
KDVI Writer's Colony, Dec 2019
Blogs
In the previous book in this series, Manfred Kets de Vries observed the experiences of leaders on a rollercoaster ride through their professional and personal lives. Now, he follows them down the rabbit hole into the unknown, where, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, they find a dystopian Wonderland in which everyone seems to have gone mad and life functions according to its own crazy logic, throwing up all kinds of obstacles in the search for truth.
Palgrave MacMillan, Nov 2018
Books
Make your natural talents work in your favour through awareness."
Early life experiences accompany us all the way to the executive boardroom. This blog explores how childhood family dynamics can have a direct influence on executives' work experience, including: preference for certain way of working in a team; relationship with peers and authority; approach to stakeholder management; and performance.
KDVI Research Lab, Jun 2018
Blogs
"Midway along the journey of our life, I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. How hard it is to tell what it was like, this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn (the thought of it brings back all my old fears)" - Dante Alighieri
Videos
"Paradigm shift and Manfred Kets de Vries"
Manfred Kets de Vries has bought a unique form of humanistic and scientific thinking to the forces of organizational change. This article looks what makes Manfred Kets de Vries “tick?” What “red threads” run through his life? How has his way of thinking contributed to the world? To explore these questions we will use one of his own methodologies and put him, metaphorically, on the psychoanalyst’s couch.
Enduring Thoughts of the Thinkers of Organizational Change, Aug 2017
Articles
"What makes wisdom more important than success and riches is that it enables us to live well"
The day after becoming the CEO of a company facing turbulent times, David had a dream. In it, while walking on a beach he discovered a bottle. On opening, a genie appeared offering him a wish in exchange for her freedom. Eschewing riches, fame or a long life, David chose the gift of wisdom.
In today’s hyperactive digital age, attaining wisdom is a challenge. With tablets and phones and their apps constantly vying for our immediate attention, it is increasingly difficult to find the time and mental space for making meaningful connections or engaging in the deep conversations, reflection, emotional awareness and compassion, necessary in the pursuit of wisdom.
INSEAD Knowledge, Jul 2017
Blogs
"Down the rabbit hole of shame"
Shame is part of the human experience. Keeping your feelings of shame in perspective can relieve you of a harmful tendency to self-blame, and, eventually, make peace with your shadow side. Knowing that you are good enough, worthwhile, and deserving of love and acceptance is essential for building resilience and living your most authentic life.
HBR, Jun 2017
Blogs
Continuing on from Part 1 - Meetings: a matter of life or death, here we reflect on group role identities and the way they can affect underlying dynamics in meetings.
KDVI Research Lab, May 2017
Blogs
Most people, if they are honest, will admit that they don’t always like meetings. In this two part blog series, we explore what might be going on under the surface in meetings. In Part One, we look at the fact that in meetings, people are not always able to tackle the real challenges the group faces, and may not even be aware that as a group, they are off course. In Part Two, we explore group role identities and how they influence meetings in hidden ways.
KDVI Research Lab, May 2017
Blogs
"How would you like to be remembered?"
INSEAD Knowledge, Sep 2016
Blogs
