Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss the centrality of self-awareness to leadership development. Self-awareness involves an in-depth awareness of one’s “strengths, weaknesses, drivers and blockers” as well as the interrelationships between these factors. We argue that understanding these elements and becoming comfortable at including them as part of one’s self will help individuals to get to an in-depth understanding of their true nature, in addition to providing them with greater freedom to select their actions and commitments to change consciously. This builds on a systems psychodynamic perspective, process of personalization, Intentional Change Theory (ICT) and positive psychology. We especially draw upon Robert Kegan’s adult mind development theory. A foundation for our work on drivers and blockers is Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s immunity to change process, which built on their work on adult mind development. Extending on these areas, we argue that exploring both drivers and blockers can play a vital role in helping leaders advance to higher order levels of self-authoring and self-transforming minds, thereby mitigating the gap between their own mental complexity and the complexity of the world.
Keywords
- Leadership development
- Self-awareness
- Conscious and unconscious
- Drivers
- Blockers
- Drivers and blockers
- Immunity to change
- Insightfully aware leadership
- Leadership transformation
- Individual change
- Leadership development objectives
- Coaching approaches and tools
When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming that person’s equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.
Confucius
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Notes
- 1.
This refers to the self we want to be. It is the psychological element of self, which is to some extent conscious and to some extent unconscious and is different for different individuals (Boyatzis & Akrivou, 2006).
- 2.
An individual’s actual behavior (Boyatzis & Akrivou, 2006).
- 3.
“D-VUCAD” as a construct of contemporary business context is described in: https://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/leadership-is-a-journey-not-a-destination-7581
- 4.
Technical problems are the problems that are very mechanical and require quick and easy fixes (Heifetz, 1994).
- 5.
Adaptive problems, on the other hand, have no straightforward solution or quick fixes available. These problems necessitate a transformation in beliefs, ideologies, values and ways of working (Heifetz, 1994).
- 6.
The concept of meaning-making is different to that of sense-making (Weick, 1995) which is seen as more “automatic and immediate” (van den Heuvel, Demerouti, Schreurs, Bakker, & Schaufeli, 2009, p. 511). van den Heuvel et al. (2009) further see meaning-making as a “psychological process of in-depth, internal exploration of an issue of concern” (p. 511).
- 7.
An example from our research (see Sect. 10.1, Example 1).
References
Aspinwall, L. G., & Staudinger, U. M. (2003). A psychology of human strengths: Fundamental questions and future directions for a positive psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Banerjee, R. P. (2003). Organisational character: Issues, imperatives and practices. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 3(1), 72. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRDM.2003.001047
Basseches, M. (1984). Dialectical thinking and adult development. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Beechler, S., & Woodward, I. C. (2009). The global “war for talent.” Journal of International Management, 15(3), 273–285.
Bochman, D. J., & Kroth, M. (2010). Immunity to transformational learning and change. The Learning Organization, 17(4), 328–342. https://doi.org/10.1108/09696471011043090
Bowe, C. M., Lahey, L., Armstrong, E., & Kegan, R. (2003). Questioning the “big assumptions”. Part I: addressing personal contradictions that impede professional development. Medical Education, 37(8), 715–22.
Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 607–623.
Boyatzis, R. E., & Akrivou, K. (2006). The ideal self as the driver of intentional change. Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 624–642.
Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2006). Intentional change. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 25(3), 49–60.
Chuck, C. (2007). Placing our assumptions at risk: Pathway to changing the culture of the community college. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 31(3), 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920600859731
Collingwood, H. (2001). Leadership’s first commandment: know thyself. Harvard Business Review, 79(11), 8.
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: the science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34–43.
Drath, W. H. (1990). Managerial strengths and weaknesses as functions of the development of personal meaning. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 26(4), 483–499.
Eigel, K. M. (1998). Leader effectiveness: A constructive-developmental view and investigation. Athens: University of Georgia.
French, R., & Vince, R. (1999). Group relations, management, and organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gabriel, Y. (1999). Beyond happy families: A critical reevaluation of the control-resistance-identity triangle. Human Relations, 52(2), 179–203.
Goleman, D. (2004). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82–91.
Hasegawa, B. A. (2004). The teacher leader role shift: A constructive-developmental study of teacher leaders’ experiences of role transition and authority relationships. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64, 08A. (UMI No. 3100144). Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(08A).
Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Held, B. S. (2004). The negative side of positive psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 44(1), 9–46.
Helsing, D., & Howell, A. (2014). Understanding Leadership from the Inside Out: Assessing Leadership Potential Using Constructive-Developmental Theory. Journal of Management Inquiry, 23(2), 186–204.
Kegan, R. (1982). The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kegan, R. (2000). What “form” transforms?: A constructive-developmental approach to transformative learning. In K. Illeris (Ed.), Contemporary Theories of Learning. Learning theorists … in their own words (pp. 35–52). Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2001a). The real reason people won’t change. Harvard Business Review, 79(10), 85–92.
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2001b). The Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work: Seven Languages for Transformation. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2009). Immunity to change: How to overcome it and unlock the potential in yourself and in your organization. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Kelly, G. A. (1955). The Psychology of Personal Constructs. New York: Norton.
Krippner, S., Pitchford, D., & Davies, J. (2012). Post-traumatic stress disorder: Biographies of disease. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood/ABC-CLIO.
Kuhnert, K. W., & Lewis, P. (1987). Transactional and transformational leadership: A constructive/developmental analysis. Academy of Management Review, 12(4), 648–657.
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development: Conceptions and theories. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Loevinger, J. (1987). Paradigms of personality. New York: Freeman.
Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(6), 695–706.
McAuliffe, G. (2006). The evolution of professional competence. In C. Hoare (Ed.), Handbook of adult development and learning (pp. 476–496). New York: Oxford University Press.
McAvoy, J., & Butler, T. (2005). A paradox of the change to User Stories: The application of the theory of Competing Commitments. In 13th European Conference on Information Systems, University of Regensburg, Germany.
McCall, M. W. J. (2009). Every strength a weakness and other caveats. In R. B. Kaiser (Ed.), The Perils of Accentuating the Positive (pp. 41–56). Tulsa, OK: Hogan Press.
McCauley, C. D., Drath, W. H., Palus, C. J., O’Connor, P. M. G., & Baker, B. A. (2006). The use of constructive-developmental theory to advance the understanding of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 634–653.
Menzies, I. E. (1960). A case study in the functioning of social systems as a defence against anxiety. Human Relations, 13(2), 95–121.
Miller, E. J., & Rice, A. K. (1967). Systems of Organization: The control of task and sentient boundaries. London: Tavistock Publications.
Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American Psychologist, 55(1), 44–55.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. New York: American Psychological Association.
Petriglieri, G., & Stein, M. (2012). The unwanted self: Projective identification in leaders’ identity work. Organization Studies, 33(9), 1217–1235.
Petriglieri, G., Wood, J. D., & Petriglieri, J. L. (2011). Up Close and Personal: Developing Foundations for Leader Development through Personalization of Management Learning. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 10(3), 430–450.
Rooke, D., & Torbert, W. R. (1998). Organizational transformation as a function of CEOs’ developmental stage. Organization Development Journal, 16(1), 11–28.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1998a). Building human strengths: psychology’s forgotten mission. APA Monitor, 29(1), 2.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1998b). Positive social science. APA Monitor, 29(4), 5.
Snyder, C. R. (2000). Handbook of hope. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Torbert, W. R. (1987). Managing the corporate dream: Restructuring for long-term success. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
Torbert, W. R. (1991). The power of balance: Transforming self, society, and scientific inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Torbert, W. R., Cook-Greuter, S., Fisher, D., Foldy, E., Gauthier, A., Keeley, K., … Tran, M. (2004). Action inquiry: The secret of timely and transforming leadership. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
van den Heuvel, M., Demerouti, E., Schreurs, B. H., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2009). Does meaning-making help during organizational change?: Development and validation of a new scale. Career Development International, 14(6), 508–533.
Van Velsor, E., & Drath, W. H. (2004). A lifelong developmental perspective on leader development. In C. D. McCauley & E. Van Velsor (Eds.), The center for creative leadership handbook of leadership development (pp. 383–414). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in Organizations. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Woodman, R. W., & Dewett, T. (2004). Organizationally relevant journeys in individual change. In M. S. Poole & A. H. Van de Ven (Eds.), Handbook of organizational change and innovation (pp. 32–49). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Woodward, I.C., & Shaffakat, S. (2017). Innovation, leadership and communication intelligence. In N. Pfeffermann & L. Mortara (Eds.), Strategy and Communication for Innovation (3rd Edition), Chapter 15, pp. 245–264. Springer International Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woodward, I.C., Shaffakat, S., Dominé, V.H. (2019). Profound Self-Awareness and the Need to Explore Drivers and Blockers. In: Exploring Leadership Drivers and Blockers. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6276-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6276-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-6275-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6276-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)