A key debate within leadership research is whether leadership can be conceptualized as a specialized role occupied by individuals or as a shared influence process amongst all members of a group (Yukl, 2006). Since the mid-­‐ 1990s some leadership scholars, as a counterpoint to the dominance of the former and using terms such as shared and distributed leadership, have attempted to elaborate new ‘post-­‐heroic’ leadership models (Badaracco, 2001) of the latter, in which leadership is something that involves all group members. These new forms of leadership are often positioned as something that organizations can implement as part of an adaptive response to a rapidly changing world. Despite a 50-­‐year tradition of construing leadership as a group level construct, little attention has been paid in these emerging debates to the systems psychodynamic perspective. From this perspective there are grounds for suspecting that attempts to implement shared leadership may compound rather than ameliorate issues related to adaptive challenges (Huffington, James and Armstrong, 2004). This thesis engages with the shared and distributed leadership literatures and examines how a systems psychodynamic perspective can contribute not only to debates within these literatures but to the wider controversies in the leadership literature. This thesis reports on the findings of a single, 18-­‐month, longitudinal case study of a senior team whose managing director attempted to implement shared leadership. Using a clinical fieldwork methodology (Schein, 1987) in the systems psychodynamic tradition (Miller, 1993b; Miller and Rice, 1967), this study advances a number of contributions to theory. These include: findings that challenge existing approaches to conceptualizing leadership – shared or otherwise; the elucidation of complex unconscious team processes that are mobilized as a senior team undertakes adaptive work; and thirdly, a more sophisticated and theoretically robust conceptualization of leadership as a group level phenomenon.

A key debate within leadership research is whether leadership can be conceptualized as a specialized role occupied by individuals or as a shared influence process amongst all members of a group (Yukl, 2006). Since the mid-­‐ 1990s some leadership scholars, as a counterpoint to the dominance of the former and using terms such as shared and distributed leadership, have attempted to elaborate new ‘post-­‐heroic’ leadership models (Badaracco, 2001) of the latter, in which leadership is something that involves all group members. These new forms of leadership are often positioned as something that organizations can implement as part of an adaptive response to a rapidly changing world. Despite a 50-­‐year tradition of construing leadership as a group level construct, little attention has been paid in these emerging debates to the systems psychodynamic perspective. From this perspective there are grounds for suspecting that attempts to implement shared leadership may compound rather than ameliorate issues related to adaptive challenges (Huffington, James and Armstrong, 2004). This thesis engages with the shared and distributed leadership literatures and examines how a systems psychodynamic perspective can contribute not only to debates within these literatures but to the wider controversies in the leadership literature. This thesis reports on the findings of a single, 18-­‐month, longitudinal case study of a senior team whose managing director attempted to implement shared leadership. Using a clinical fieldwork methodology (Schein, 1987) in the systems psychodynamic tradition (Miller, 1993b; Miller and Rice, 1967), this study advances a number of contributions to theory. These include: findings that challenge existing approaches to conceptualizing leadership – shared or otherwise; the elucidation of complex unconscious team processes that are mobilized as a senior team undertakes adaptive work; and thirdly, a more sophisticated and theoretically robust conceptualization of leadership as a group level phenomenon.

This thesis contends that a corporate merger, on the scale of a global order, is a 'catastrophic change' and depends on 'killing off' parts of the former organisations for its success. The act of annihilating parts of the former organisations is experienced as disengaged and murderous by organisational members. This arouses persecutory anxiety of an unbearable intensity amongst members from which they defend themselves by emotionally disconnecting from the psychic reality of the organisation. Several contentions underpin the hypothesis: 1. that a merger involves a developmental process in the creation and growth of a new organisation; 2. the event of a merger causes disruptions to roles and relationships that are experienced as a loss of power, status and identity, and also as an emotional loss for what had been cherished and valued in the former organisation/s; 3. the emotional loss evokes the symbolic experience of the loss of a 'loved object', and an instinctual loss becomes attached thereby to the real losses; and thus, 4. the process of merger involves a symbolic destruction of the 'loved organisational object' of the former organisations, as held in the minds of organisational members. The thesis is based on case study research conducted on the topic of emotional connectedness in a network organisation over a three year period. Fieldwork began at the time when the participating firm had just formed from a global merger of two large global enterprises. The Australia-New Zealand regional operations were the focus of the study. The research discovered a significant degree of emotional disconnectedness due to: 1. the nature of the work that required staff to work on client sites, away from home and often alone; 2. a multiplicity of organisational structures that engendered fragmentary connections; 3. valuing individuals' self-reliance over and above the interdependence of organisational members; 4. the many external changes experienced by the firm from the effects of the merger and from market economics, political and business turmoil, and for the Australia- New Zealand operations, a shift in the location of their corporate head office from North America to Europe; 5. increasing uncertainty within the industry, and a commensurate increase in competitiveness; 6. a loss of profitability in the Asia-Pacific region in which the case study participants were located; 7. the turnover in the regional director's role, with three appointments in less than two years; 8. dramatic rises and falls in staff numbers, ranging from an initial 450, to a high of 750, and sudden decline to 120 people during the period of the study; 9. the reluctance of vice-presidents and directors to take up a corporate management role, preferring to work as 'project managers' on client assignments; and 10. all these factors contributing to an anxiety about the future of the Australia-New Zealand (A-NZ) operations which was expressed as a fear of survival. In response to these many factors, staff and management felt vulnerable and insecure, experiencing the merger as an annihilation of 'loved objects'. These included the loss of a partner's autonomy and ownership in the firm, familiar work procedures, and the loss of belonging to a partner's work group and associated long-term relationships. The emotional aspects of dealing with these losses and feelings were placed upon individuals to manage for themselves. The burden of ensuring the survival of the firm was displaced upon individuals, such that consultants became not only the 'container for work', but also the 'container for the organisation's survival'. As the merger progressed and more changes to the business were implemented with little to no containment of people's felt experiences, the psychic reality of the A-NZ operations became saturated with persecutory anxiety. In some parts of these operations, the anxiety became so great that group interactions (what there were of them) seemed psychotic. Those in management roles displayed a level of anxiety that appeared to be unbearable for the individuals concerned, and which resulted at times in manic responses to the human and commercial needs of the business. Bion's theories of catastrophic change and emotional links, and Klein's theories on persecutory and depressive anxieties are applied to understanding the systems psychodynamics of the effects of the merger upon the organisation. The case reveals the presence of persecutory anxiety in the immediate aftermath of the merger, lasting for nearly three years. Various social defence mechanisms are identified as being used by organisational members against this anxiety. They are: the co-existence of multiple organisational structures; a sentient sub-system of 'counselling families'; idealisation of autonomous individuals; plus, the mechanisms of projection, denial and regression. Four factors are identified as significant for containing destructive forces in a corporate merger: a) the role of emotional links to understanding the internal reality of a newly merged organisation; b) the containment of experiences of catastrophic change and projective processes; c) managing the realistic and neurotic anxieties of organisational members; and, d) identifying and managing the primary risk in a merger. A model is presented on the systems psychodynamics of a corporate merger. It identifies the change process that a merger entails, and the psychodynamics of this process using Bion's concept of container'contained. The thesis contributes to understanding the psychic reality of organisational mergers and offers a perspective that being alert to staff members' felt experiences and their emotional connectedness, as a normal part of business, provides 'leading data' on the health of the enterprise. Managers who are more 'wholly' informed about organisational realities, both external and psychic realities, can work more realistically on resolving problems, assessing risks, or making strategic business decisions.

Systems Psychodynamics is unique as an approach to consulting to organisations in the way it integrates three theory streams: psychoanalysis; group relations and open systems theory. Consultants who work in this way focus on the many layers of interactions and exchanges taking place both within organisations and at the interface between an organisation and its external environment. The territory for collaborative exploration with clients extends from interpersonal and group dynamics to service and product- related systems and processes. It is a holistic approach that creates opportunities for transformational learning at every level of the organisation. As a practice, consulting with a systems psychodynamics approach is complex and difficult to master. Arguably, the most challenging dimension of this work for consultants is developing a capacity to think within a psychoanalytic conceptual framework: to discern and hypothesise about unconscious processes in organisations. But what precisely does this mean and what is this experience like for the consultants? This research project was designed to explore and describe the experience of working with a systems psychodynamic approach from the consultants' perspectives within the Australian context. To this end, 20 consultants who self-selected as working with a systems psychodynamic approach were involved in this research. From the data created in this process, what is documented in this thesis is the first detailed description of the experience of 'working in this way' taken from the combined perspectives of these 20 consultants. Further, a systems psychodynamic approach to research is defined and applied in this thesis. In this way, the systems psychodynamics within the temporary 'system' created by the research was part of the territory under investigation. This process led to an important discovery. 18 of 20 consultants strongly asserted the importance of working with colleagues in pairs or teams when adopting a systems psychodynamic approach. However, at the time of interviewing, all 20 consultants were working alone and only 3 had immediate plans to work with others. An exploration of the reasons for this gap between beliefs about best practice and actual practice became the focus for the analysis of the data. What is discovered through this analysis is that the reasons why consultants are predominantly choosing to work alone are likely to be complex and irreducible. An exploration of the issues that working together can surface for consultants who apply a systems psychodynamic approach is presented under four sub-topics: system domain issues; theory-related issues; interpersonal issues and intrapsychic issues. In this detailed analysis, what is revealed is an absence of 'good enough' containment for the anxieties that are likely to be aroused when consultants work together. To this end, four 'containers' are proposed: organisation/brand-as-container; management-as-container; supervision-as-container and theory/praxis-as container. This research has uncovered some important challenges facing the community of practitioners in Australia. It is the contention in this thesis that they need to be addressed if the practice of consulting with a systems psychodynamic approach is to flourish and continue to grow.

This study focussed on the systems psychodynamic perspective of how different leadership styles (paranoid, schizoid, depressive, compulsive and histrionic) deal with change as measured in a focus group consisting of four psychologists. How the different styles deal with change was compared to the definitions established to distinguish the key tendencies apparent during change for each style. Content analysis was applied to determine an integrative profile for each style during change. Though each of the styles responds in distinctly different ways when faced with change, all show a heightened level of reaction on the interpersonal dimension, indicating that change dramatically affects leader-follower relationships. The findings highlight the reversion during change to extreme self-interest and a tendency to use the team to serve this self-interest. Recommendations were presented to create reflective space so the leader may, through insight, be in a position to establish collaborative leader-follower relationships that are open to change. / Indust & Org Psychology / MCOM (IND PSYCHOLOGY)

This study focussed on the systems psychodynamic perspective of how different leadership styles (paranoid, schizoid, depressive, compulsive and histrionic) deal with change as measured in a focus group consisting of four psychologists. How the different styles deal with change was compared to the definitions established to distinguish the key tendencies apparent during change for each style. Content analysis was applied to determine an integrative profile for each style during change. Though each of the styles responds in distinctly different ways when faced with change, all show a heightened level of reaction on the interpersonal dimension, indicating that change dramatically affects leader-follower relationships. The findings highlight the reversion during change to extreme self-interest and a tendency to use the team to serve this self-interest. Recommendations were presented to create reflective space so the leader may, through insight, be in a position to establish collaborative leader-follower relationships that are open to change. / Indust and Org Psychology / MCOM (IND PSYCHOLOGY)

The focus of this research was to describe gender role experiences and gender transformation from a systems psychodynamic stance. Women have fought to overcome past oppressions but society intended to label women continually as traditional homemakers. In organisations, women are still subjected to receiving certain non-challenging jobs, such as administrative tasks, secretarial and office assistant duties as compared to men who fulfil professional and managerial roles. Men, on the other hand, experience the daily pressures of living up to societal brandings, which regard them as tough bosses and breadwinners. Hermeneutic phenomenology enabled participants to share their lived gender role experiences. Furthermore, the hermeneutic paradigm assisted the researcher with an in-depth understanding of participants’ phenomenological experiences. The researcher therefore explored, analysed and described the phenomenological gender experiences of male and female employees and a transgender employee from a systems psychodynamic stance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four male and four female participants. Men and women often projected positive behaviours onto each other that would result in them challenging and breaking the obsolete, stereotypical thinking handed out by society. The isolation and loneliness experienced by transgender persons manifest in unauthentic and false living. The organisation created high levels of anxiety in its employees’ which contributed towards male, female and transgender role experiences. Individual defence mechanisms were used as a method of addressing anxieties. Men, women and v transgender persons were affected by their constant need for recognition and advancement in the organisation but refused to show any concerns for fear of consequences from the leaders of the organisation. Men, women and transgender persons became containers and shared the emotional burdens of the organisation and their family life in different ways. Recommendations for gender transformative approaches are discussed to address issues of inequality in the organisation. / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Executive group coaching, as a development intervention, and interest in coaching research has steadily increased over the years. Psychodynamic group coaching and coaching programmes have, however, received limited empirical attention. In this study, the researcher argues the criticality for coaches in better understanding of unconscious group coaching dynamics. The researcher felt that by designing a Systems Psychodynamic Executive Group Coaching Programme (SPEGCP) as a psychoeducational developmentally focused learning opportunity would allow for an exploration of systemic conscious and unconscious group coaching dynamic behaviours. The researcher sought to explore, describe and analyse the lived experiences of coaches in the SPEGCP. Interpretative phenomenological hermeneutic, using systems psychodynamic perspective as a theoretical framework, served the study well by enabling the researcher to apply in-depth description and interpretation. A case study research strategy was adopted were individual participants were analysed and then integrated across participants analysis of findings. The study revealed the structured nature of the SPEGCP acted as a container, transitional object, and containment for coaches. SPEGCP contributed to the development of insights into the unconscious group coaching dynamics related to role, authority, boundary and identity manifested in uncertainties, role confusion, person-role-organisation dynamic influences and defensive structures in the paranoid-schizoid position, and reflective containment for learning in the depressive position. The quality of the relationship between the consultant-coach and group, and the systems psychodynamic consulting and coaching stance, were critical for exploration and reflective insights to emerge. As the systems psychodynamic group coaching and consulting stance can add significant value to the growth and functioning of coaches, and thus executives and their groups in which they operate, a study of this nature was important if not critical. The study provides an opportunity to consider that this third generation type of evidence based consulting and coaching be viewed as an integrated part of the development of coaches, consultants, and thus executive groups. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

This study investigated the relationship between leadership style and group processes and dynamics with due consideration of the role of related systems in the context of organisational change. The theoretical assumptions and practical implications of the full range model of leadership were discussed. This model emphasises the transactional-transformational paradigm. In addition, approaches to studying and working with groups were covered, focusing specifically on group processes and group dynamics. In the case of the latter, the systems psychodynamic perspective was emphasised. The present study was conducted in a plant of a South African production organisation that had been experiencing transformation. An intervention was done at management level to identify behavioural and operational issues and to sensitise the members of the management team in terms of individual and group functioning. The conceptualisation of leadership styles in terms of the full range model of leadership was largely supported by means of associations with certain personality traits and behaviours. The latter also provided a profile of desired characteristics, especially in terms of interpersonal styles and work and social ethics. The theory on group processes and dynamics was used to explore group and organisational functioning. The context of change and the related insecurity resulted in efforts to deal with anxiety by means of excessive reliance on structure. Centralised leadership and a dynamic of control and dependency characterised all levels of the organisation. Cooperation in an interdependent manner was therefore problematic and there was also a struggle in terms of interrelatedness in and between systems. The unconscious defence strategy was related to the general reliance on transactional behaviours and the lack of authorisation of leadership in terms of transformational behaviours. Despite the successful application of theory in the present study and the contribution made by the results, it was concluded that the uniqueness and the realities of each situation need to be explored and provided for, and a system should be allowed to determine the progression in the system. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

This descriptive research addressed the challenges of working with the conscious and unconscious aspects of diversity in order to enhance insights into covert and deeper diversity dynamics in organisations. The research supported the evolving trend of shifting the systems psychodynamic orientation from the group to the individual context. The general aim was to describe a systems psychodynamic coaching model, and to determine its trustworthiness in assisting executives to work effectively with conscious and unconscious diversity dynamics. Literature was reviewed to provide a theoretical foundation of diversity challenges which executives face in South African organisations. This was augmented by systems psychodynamic literature, which provided a theoretical basis upon which to understand the intrapsychic aspects of the executives and their interplay with systemic dynamics. The empirical study was conducted over ten months to determine the trustworthiness of executive coaching in diversity from a systems psychodynamic perspective. Data was gathered using the organisational role analysis approach, and analysed by means of the systems psychodynamic discourse analysis method. Nine major themes and their related sub-themes were identified, namely, gender, race, ethnicity, authority, disability, language, age, de-authorisation of diversity work, and the coaching process. Through the coaching, the executives gained insights into their intrapsychic environment and the complex, multifaceted and intersecting nature of diversity in their organisations. They were assisted to take up their leadership roles more effectively and to take action on behalf of their organisations. The research hypothesis formulated and the conclusion made was that executive coaching from a systems psychodynamic perspective displays trustworthiness. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)