Down the Rabbit Hole of Leadership: Leadership Pathology in Everyday Life

by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries

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.

Understanding what is happening around us has become more difficult than ever in the Age of Trump. Don’t imperatives like “build that wall” sound very much like “Off with his head”? Unfortunately, and unlike Alice, we are not going to wake up from a bad dream and discover that everything is “nothing but a pack of cards”.

The first part of this book looks at the psychodynamics of leadership in both a business and a political context. The second focuses on the psychopathology of everyday life in organizations and the seemingly endless ways people can make a mess of things – including mega pay packages, acting out, digital addiction and other dysfunctional behaviour patterns. Each chapter ends with a brief anecdote to illustrate the dilemma it presents.

In short, sharp nuggets, Kets de Vries helps make sense of how the madness of the present has affected leadership in organizations and the workplace.

201 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2018

About the author

Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries is a Dutch psychologist, Professor of leadership development and organizational change at INSEAD, and consultant

Reviews

[Akshita Nanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of dinner anecdotes rather than a deep dive into psychopathology. A quick read, confirmed my existing understanding but taught me little new. Am also chagrined at the author's acceptance of Stockholm Syndrome.
Off to look for something more meaty.