In this book of insightful essays, Kets de Vries explodes the myth that rationality is what governs the behavior of leaders and followers, and he 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 practise, the author...

In this book of insightful essays, Kets de Vries explodes the myth that rationality is what governs the behavior of leaders and followers, and he 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 practise, the author...

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...

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 Asea Brown Boveri's Percy Barnevik, Virgin founder Richard Branson, and British Petroleum titan David Simon to provide rare and candid profiles of how these charismatic leaders have redefined organizational growth and development in the latter 20th century. The authors were granted unprecedented access to these men and the results are as fascinating as they are informative. Readers are treated to...

"An excellent and well-written book....The authors analyze dysfunctional organizational behavior in terms of accepted psychoanalytic types. The analogy between personal and organizational malfunction is clearly drawn and offers genuine insights into understanding nonfunctional organizational behavior."— Choice

What makes a great leader? Can leadership be learned or are great leaders born and not made?

Manfred Kets de Vries answers these questions, and many more, in his innovative and fresh look at the timeless theme of effective leadership. His engaging study of the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader who created an empire that spanned most of the ancient world, provides an in-depth look at the psychodynamics of leadership that will be of use to contemporary leaders in business and politics, and to consulting and training organizations.

In the first part of the...

You don't have to be mad to work here but it helps Sometimes that's more than just a tedious joke. As anyone who has worked as an executive coach knows, sometimes people who hold very senior and responsible positions are more than just difficult and erratic sometimes they're downright toxic.
Toxic behavior has a contaminating effect that ripples through an organization, incurring many hidden, unforeseeable costs in the process. Working with these individuals can be seriously emotionally and physically draining.
Manfred Kets de Vries is one of the world's leading authorities on the...

We know where we are with a fairy story. There is a cast of predictable characters, the hero or heroine is submitted to terrible trials, cruelty, and injustice but in the end the baddies get their comeuppance, good triumphs, and everyone lives happily ever after. In this book Manfred Kets de Vries, one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of leadership, and a pioneering practitioner in the field of psychodynamic executive coaching, draws on the format of traditional fairy tales and tells us five stories that dramatize five key themes of dysfunctional leadership. The...