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Life and death in the executive fast lane : [electronic resource] essays on irrational organizations and their leaders / Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass, c1995.Edition: 1st edDescription: xx, 252 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0787901121 (acid-free paper)
  • 9780787901127 (acid-free paper)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 658.4/092 21
LOC classification:
  • HD31 .K462 1995
Other classification:
  • 85.05
Online resources:
Contents:
Pt. 1. Leaders and the Organization. 1. If I'm the Leader, Will Anyone Follow? A Definition of Leadership. 2. Welcome to the Snake Pit: The New CEO. 3. Boiled Frogs and Dancing Elephants: Change and Downsizing. 4. Merger Fever: Managing Acquisition. 5. Do You Like Singing the Company Song? Corporate Culture. 6. A Cultural Tower of Babel: Managing Across Borders. 7. Are You Sure You Want to Work Abroad? International Assignments. 8. Do You Have the Right Stuff? The Making of a Global Leader. 9. When the Future Is Now: Leadership for the Next Millennium -- Pt. 2. Leaders and Individuals. 10. Is Anatomy Really Destiny? Women as Leaders. 11. Joining the Family Burlesque: Family Firms. 12. Reaping the Whirlwind: Creativity at Work. 13. CEOs Also Have the Blues: Succession and Retirement. 14. Do Workaholics Have More Fun? Balancing Work and Pleasure. 15. Dead Fish, Incorporated: Alexithymia in Organizations. 16. Doing a Maxwell: The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship.
Summary: Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries puts organizations on the couch in this collection of sad, mad, funny, and outrageous essays. By combining the "dismal science" of economics and the "impossible profession" of psychoanalysis, Kets de Vries presents eclectic commentaries on how things really work in organizations. Capturing the essence of the irrationalities that pervade our organizations and compromise our leaders, he offers surprising and useful ideas about what makes organizations tick and why they and the people in them ultimately succeed or fail.Summary: A bedside reader for all who experience the dysfunctional aspects of today's workplace, this collection of brief and insightful essays not only deciphers problems that are common in organizational life but also sheds light on some of the underlying dimensions that often go unnoticed. Kets de Vries makes sense out of specific behaviors, stories, myths, rituals, and jokes to help people understand the conflicts, anxieties, defenses, and tensions that constantly arise. The author covers everything from leadership and entrepreneurship to families in business, change and downsizing, women as leaders, balancing work and pleasure, and managing acquisitions, using contemporary examples like Robert Maxwell, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Robert Coles, and John Gardner.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-242) and index.

Pt. 1. Leaders and the Organization. 1. If I'm the Leader, Will Anyone Follow? A Definition of Leadership. 2. Welcome to the Snake Pit: The New CEO. 3. Boiled Frogs and Dancing Elephants: Change and Downsizing. 4. Merger Fever: Managing Acquisition. 5. Do You Like Singing the Company Song? Corporate Culture. 6. A Cultural Tower of Babel: Managing Across Borders. 7. Are You Sure You Want to Work Abroad? International Assignments. 8. Do You Have the Right Stuff? The Making of a Global Leader. 9. When the Future Is Now: Leadership for the Next Millennium -- Pt. 2. Leaders and Individuals. 10. Is Anatomy Really Destiny? Women as Leaders. 11. Joining the Family Burlesque: Family Firms. 12. Reaping the Whirlwind: Creativity at Work. 13. CEOs Also Have the Blues: Succession and Retirement. 14. Do Workaholics Have More Fun? Balancing Work and Pleasure. 15. Dead Fish, Incorporated: Alexithymia in Organizations. 16. Doing a Maxwell: The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship.

Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries puts organizations on the couch in this collection of sad, mad, funny, and outrageous essays. By combining the "dismal science" of economics and the "impossible profession" of psychoanalysis, Kets de Vries presents eclectic commentaries on how things really work in organizations. Capturing the essence of the irrationalities that pervade our organizations and compromise our leaders, he offers surprising and useful ideas about what makes organizations tick and why they and the people in them ultimately succeed or fail.

A bedside reader for all who experience the dysfunctional aspects of today's workplace, this collection of brief and insightful essays not only deciphers problems that are common in organizational life but also sheds light on some of the underlying dimensions that often go unnoticed. Kets de Vries makes sense out of specific behaviors, stories, myths, rituals, and jokes to help people understand the conflicts, anxieties, defenses, and tensions that constantly arise. The author covers everything from leadership and entrepreneurship to families in business, change and downsizing, women as leaders, balancing work and pleasure, and managing acquisitions, using contemporary examples like Robert Maxwell, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Robert Coles, and John Gardner.

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