scholarly journals Working with attention and distraction in leadership development

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-248
Author(s):  
Peter Simpson ◽  
Robert French ◽  
Rob Sheffield
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Service Organisation ◽  
Psychological Structure ◽  
Healthy Functioning ◽  
Group Mentality

Bion’s theory of groups is used to explore the dynamics of learning on a leadership development programme. The dynamic of a group is influenced by the capacity of its members to negotiate, consciously and unconsciously, the tension between the opposed tendencies of attention and distraction, which is related to the tension between a desire to learn and a hatred of the process of development. Bion’s model of work-group and basic-assumption mentalities, which we equate with the dynamics of attention and distraction, is used to reflect on a two-month period of a development programme in a UK public service organisation. In related literature there is a tendency to focus on the pathology of basic-assumption mentality with limited interest in the healthy functioning of workgroup mentality. Basic-assumption mentality contributes to understanding a group that is distracted from its purpose, but a focus on this, without comparable attention to work-group mentality, can lead to an inappropriately negative view of group process. This is contrary to Bion’s essential optimism about the powerful psychological structure of work-group mentality. The article demonstrates the importance of combining an analysis of both attention and distraction to fully appreciate the complex dynamic of groups engaged in a developmental process.

scholarly journals Te Rōpu te Ūkaipo

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
Crispin Balfour
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Work Group ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
The People ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Group Mentality

I have been conducting a psychotherapy group since May 2007. We have met once a week, forty-six times a year, for almost ten years. A group that endures offers a promise of home, a place to return to time and time again, where we can put down roots. New Zealand offered me a promise of home as I think it does many émigrés. Homeless, I sought my roots in the land and the people of the land. This group, the other group members, myself as conductor, are there to be made use of in another kind of homelessness. Our roots feed us but they also transform the soil they are rooted in: we all learn from each other, drawing deep from the unconscious of the group. This paper offers a glimpse into how conducting this group has shaped my understanding with reference to the thinking of Bion and Winnicott. I have come to view work group mentality as a field phenomenon, such that the individuals take for granted the group as turangawaewae, without the need to inscribe a basic assumption on that field. Whakarāpopotonga Mai i te marama o Haratua 2007, ahau e whakahaere rōpū whakaora hinengaro ana. Ia wiki ka tūtaki mātau, whā tekau ma ono huihuinga i te tau, tata mō te tekau tau. He rōpū māia, he tohu kāinga whakaruruhau he wāhi hai hokihokinga, he wāhi whakatipuranga rarau. I whakaarahia mai e Aotearoa he oati kāinga pērā anō ki tōku whakaaro ki te nuinga o te hunga manene. Kāinga kore, i whai pūtaketanga au i roto i ngā iwi o te whenua. Ko tēnei rōpū, hūanga o ētahi atu rōpū me au hai kaiwhakahaere e tū ana hei whai take mō tētāhi atu momo kāinga kore. Whāngai ai tātau e ō tātau pūtake, whakarerehia anō ai hoki te papa e ngā takotoranga pakiaka: he whakaakoranga tā tēnā ki tēnā, whāia hōhōnuhia mai i te mauri moe o te rōpū. Ko tā tēnei tuhinga he hoatu pitopito whakaaturanga ki te āhua o tōku mātatau ki ngā whakaaro o Piona rāua ko Winikote i ahu mai i taku takinga i tēnei rōpū. Kua puta mai ki a au te whakaohomauri o te hinengaro mahinga ā rōpū, inā rā te noho a tēnā, ā tēnā i runga i te whakaaro ko te rōpū te tūrangawaewae , ā tē aro ake i te ahunga mai o tēnei whakaaro i hea.

Creating a Leadership Development Program: Nine Essential Tasks

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pernick
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Leadership Succession ◽  
Program Participant ◽  
Succession Plan ◽  
Leadership Development Program

Empirical research supports common sense—leadership matters to an organization's effectiveness. Leadership skills can be learned; although learning on the job is too haphazard a way to ensure an organization's viability. A leadership development program (LDP) requires nine overlapping tasks, which should be managed by HR professionals. Each task answers a basic question: 1. What kind of candidates is the organization looking for? 2. What does it take to be a good leader in the organization? 3. How does one become a program participant? 4. How does the participant stack up as a leader right now? 5. What specific actions should the participant take to become a better leader? 6. In what ways is the LDP reinforced by other HR systems? 7. How can the participant's work group be part of the developmental process? 8. Is there a leadership succession plan? 9. Is the LDP giving a satisfactory return on investment?

scholarly journals A community of practice or a working psychological group? Group dynamics in core and peripheral community participation

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E Gray ◽  
Yiannis Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Group Mentality

The concept of communities of practice has become increasingly influential in management literature. Yet, many scholars regard the term as too homogeneous and lacking in empirical support. Our study explores the Silver Academy, a project involving over 100 unemployed and self-employed managers over the age of 50, who came together with the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience in starting up their own businesses. The study shows how the Academy matches the notion of community of practice, including mutual relationships, shared engagement and a common consensus of membership. However, applying Bion’s theory of groups, we challenge the homogeneous and consensual notion of a community of practice, illustrating how, through unconscious group processes, some group members exhibit work-group mentality and the capacity for realistic hard work (and leadership), while others are caught in a basic-assumption mentality, prone to feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. This is particularly so for a group that has gone through the recent trauma of unemployment.

scholarly journals Group, basic assumptions and complexity science

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulio de Felice ◽  
Giuseppe De Vita ◽  
Alessandro Bruni ◽  
Assunta Galimberti ◽  
Giulia Paoloni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Points ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Complexity Science ◽  
Group Topology ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Psychoanalytic Literature ◽  
Group Mentality

This article represents the first complete systematization of the basic assumptions as theorized by Wilfred R. Bion and post-Bionian authors. The authors reviewed, compared and systematized all the Bionian developments concerning the basic assumptions taking the prevailing anxieties, group topology, leader peculiarities, interactions with the work-group mentality into account. The analysis evinced five main ba(s) and five subsets (i.e. their features resemble one of the five main basic assumptions). Briefly, in the first paragraph the authors summarize Bionian thought and its underlying logical criteria while in the second they reviewed all the new proposals for basic assumptions emerging from the psychoanalytic literature (i.e. Lawrence, Bain and Gould, 1996; Romano, 1997; Sandler, 2002; Sarno, 1999; Turquet, 1974; Hopper, 2009). In conclusion the authors focus on the main strengths and critical points of the systematization. In the last section ‘Promising developments’ they address the methodology of the study of basic assumptions, its main features and potential developments. The article rounds off with a clinical appendix.

Anand Automotive Limited: leadership development process for creating strategic impact

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Sumi Jha ◽  
Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Joint Ventures ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Talent Management ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hr Practices ◽  
Strategic Impact ◽  
Manufacturing Organization

Subject area Leadership development for strategic impact in high growth export driven organization. Study level/applicability The case is suitable for second and final year students of a two year post graduate management programme (Master's level) on the following courses: leadership – on development of organization wide leadership processes; talent management – for identifying, nurturing and retaining talent in an organization and for developing leadership capabilities in managers; and strategic human resources (HR) – regarding building leadership development and talent management initiatives for creating a strategic level impact in the organization and its joint ventures. Case overview In about 45 years since its inception Anand Automotive Limited (AAL) has established itself as one of the premium firms in auto ancillary manufacturing and export. This case demonstrates how AAL built its leadership development programme. Further, the case elaborates on the coach/coachee mentorship programme at AAL. The case further explores the various initiatives under the broad umbrella of the Anand Leadership Development Programme (ALDP). The ALDP process has been woven into the fabric of HR practices of the organization. AAL sales turnover was USD1.2 billion in 2012 and it has a goal to achieve a turnover of USD2 billion by 2015. Mr K.C. Bhullar, the group head HR, had to plan an HR system which will embed leadership in the tapestry of AAL as an organization. The amalgamation of ALDP in AAL has to be disseminated across all levels at the 19 plants spread across different locations in India. The ALDP is expected to sprout a large number of leaders in AAL who can usher in an extremely quality focused and conscious organization. Such leaders would in their day-to-day demonstration of leadership at AAL help AAL to become an excellent manufacturing organization. This would help AAL to have a leadership position in the global automobile market. ALDP is also expected to create a band of leaders who would help the organization from very senior level strategic management positions and play leadership roles in its joint ventures. Expected learning outcomes This case can help students to understand how HR practices integrate leadership development programme for the strategic gains of an organization. Students would also understand the role of mentorship in coach/coachee processes. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

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