Abstract
The authors present an intimate experience from leader development at theThe Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy. Focusing on the core of military leadership—“solve the mission and take care of your people”—the Social Interaction element in this context is explored in this chapter. Surprisingly, however, this competence is not explored by using regular military exercises, but by using a Staged Cocktail Party associated with arts-based traditions such as theatre, drama and play. The authors, acting as mentors when conducting The Staged Cocktail Party, explore the following potential implications: human interaction, emotional reactions and leaders’ mentalisation. They also share some valuable lessons learned about the investigated arts-based methodology. Finally, the authors surprise the reader with a statement highly relevant to the military context and beyond.
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Firing, K., Skarsvåg, K.I., Chemi, T. (2019). Using “The Staged Cocktail Party” to Improve Leaders’ Social Interaction in the Norwegian Military. In: Antonacopoulou, E., Taylor, S. (eds) Sensuous Learning for Practical Judgment in Professional Practice. Palgrave Studies in Business, Arts and Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98863-4_9
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