Psychodynamic Leadership Approach

Abstract

According to Stech (2006), the basic ideas of the psychodynamic leadership approach can be summarized as follows. People gain their initial experiences with leadership from the day they are born. Parents function as first leaders within the family. Following the basic assumption of this approach, these early experiences of leadership form an unconscious basis for future behavior as leader and follower. Experiences of childhood and adolescence are mirrored in patriarchal, matriarchal, or familial leadership patterns and, therefore, are mainly responsible for the way members of organizations act as leaders or react to authority. Within socialization we also learn the unconscious archaic image of the powerful male, which is seen as a basic source for leadership (Goethals 2004). If a leader mirrors this image consisting of a strong and independent individual who imposes his will on other group members, then he is reawakening this archaic image, which leads to obedience in the group. The psychodynamic leadership approach follows the tradition of management research using the psychodynamic approach, with Zaleznik (1977) and Maccoby (1977) probably being the most important representatives.