This thesis explores leadership from an inverted or inner perspective of a
leader. It draws on humanistic, psychological approaches to leadership, and
develops a theory of systemic, constructivist leadership. While systemic,
constructivist concepts are well known and accepted methods in therapy,
counselling, coaching, and organisational consulting, in leadership there is
still a gap between theory and practise. In this study systemic, constructivist
ideas such as self-organization of human systems, radical constructivism,
and systems theory are transferred, through an experiential learning project
to leadership practise. Previous research (Steinkellner, 2005) indicated that
in addition to the understanding of systemic theory and the application of
systemic interventions, the specific mental attitude of a leader is required. So
this thesis (1) explores the qualities of the mental attitude of a systemic,
constructivist leader, (2) reflects on the transformation of the self of a leader
in an experiential learning process, and (3) develops a theory of systemic,
constructivist leadership. The methodology is heuristic inquiry, which
involves the subjectivity of the researcher, and includes introspective
procedures such as self-searching, self-dialogue, and self-discovery
(Moustakas, 1990). Its focus on the inner perspective of a leader is unusual,
if not unique. Various concepts from humanistic psychology including tacit
knowledge (Polanyi & Sen, 2009), awareness (Perls, 1973), and focusing
(Gendlin, 2003) were applied to transcend the concept of rationality both in
science and in business. The main contributions of this study are: the
description of a theory of systemic, constructivist leadership and; the design
of appropriate training to implement this.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/7499 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Reintges, Klaus-Peter |
| Contributors | Nadin, Sara J., Lee, Hugh |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, School of Management |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, DBA |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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