All Outputs (48)

Stoicism, philosophy as a way of life, and Negative Capability. Developing a capacity for working in radical uncertainty (2023)
Journal Article

Philosophy and leadership are not generally held in close association. By contrast, this paper is a call to action for the academy and organisational practitioners to reflect on the potential contribution to leadership of a practice of philosophy as... Read More about Stoicism, philosophy as a way of life, and Negative Capability. Developing a capacity for working in radical uncertainty.

Negative Capability in Leadership Practice. Implications for Working in Uncertainty (2022)
Book

Working in uncertainty has become the new normal, but what do leaders have to draw upon when lacking the requisite knowledge? In this book, the authors make a case for Negative Capability, which enables leaders to work in a state of not knowing witho... Read More about Negative Capability in Leadership Practice. Implications for Working in Uncertainty.

Module design, delivery and assessment for large student numbers (2021)
Book Chapter

This is a practical chapter looking at the design and delivery of large modules with diverse contexts and students. It gives illustrations and covers the major considerations of clarity, simplicity, and building a community of practice within the te... Read More about Module design, delivery and assessment for large student numbers.

Negative capability and care of the self (2020)
Book Chapter

This chapter considers caring leadership through the twin prisms of Negative Capability and Care of the Self, arguing that an aspiration to practise caring leadership involves a commitment to the development of self-knowledge and the capacity to be w... Read More about Negative capability and care of the self.

Working with attention and distraction in leadership development (2019)
Journal Article

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 oppose... Read More about Working with attention and distraction in leadership development.

Leadership (2019)
Book Chapter

Sorensen et al (2012) argue for the importance of theology in the study of organisations on the basis that 'the way we think about and act in organizations is profoundly structured by theological concepts.' (p.267). In relation to leadership studies... Read More about Leadership.

Negative Capability and conflicting narratives in leadership development (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In this paper we reflect on a very specific aspect of some recent organisational research. In particular, we will look at the phenomenon of ‘caring leadership’ through a reflection on some ‘conflicting narratives’ of leadership and care within a char... Read More about Negative Capability and conflicting narratives in leadership development.

Envisioning a future by paying attention to the past: Rediscovering the work-of-leisure (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Populist movements are inherently reactionary, motivated by dissatisfaction with the status quo (Albertazzi & McDonnell, 2008). One source of dissatisfaction in the West over the last decade has been a decline in prosperity alongside an increase in d... Read More about Envisioning a future by paying attention to the past: Rediscovering the work-of-leisure.

Envisioning a future by paying attention to the past: Rediscovering the work-of-leisure. (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Populist movements are inherently reactionary, motivated by dissatisfaction with the status quo (Albertazzi & McDonnell, 2008). One source of dissatisfaction in the West over the last decade has been a decline in prosperity alongside an increase in d... Read More about Envisioning a future by paying attention to the past: Rediscovering the work-of-leisure..

An ethic of care: Reconnecting the private and the public (2017)
Book Chapter

This chapter draws on the authors’ own personal and professional experiences more than most conventional leadership text-books. We interweave ideas about familial care and organisational leadership based on our own first-hand experiences of both. W... Read More about An ethic of care: Reconnecting the private and the public.

Developing the leader's negative capability: Mobilising attention for the greater good (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The development of Negative Capability, as described by the poet Keats, can contribute to a quality of attention in leadership practice that encourages greater consideration of the common good. Current societal and organizational realities demand man... Read More about Developing the leader's negative capability: Mobilising attention for the greater good.

Attention as a basis for thinking in groups (2017)
Book Chapter

In this contribution, which is taken from Chapter 1 of our book, 'Attention, Cooperation, Purpose: An approach to working in groups using insights from Wilfred Bion' (Karnac, 2015), we outline the state of mind we talk of as attention. We make an imp... Read More about Attention as a basis for thinking in groups.

Re-imagining business schools of the future as places of theorizing (2017)
Book Chapter

In this chapter, we argue that one of the reasons of resisting the temptation of teaching what ‘we could do and perhaps should not do’ (Eco, 2014 [1980], 107) in university Business Schools is the emphasis on the application of theories to the exclus... Read More about Re-imagining business schools of the future as places of theorizing.

Should we teach students to theorize? Classical Greek philosophy and the learning journey (2015)
Book Chapter

In this chapter we reflect on theorizing using Plato’s allegory of the Cave as a mythical representation of the journey to see the eidos, the Forms or Ideas, which Plato considered the most fundamental reality. The philosopher-as-theoros was not taug... Read More about Should we teach students to theorize? Classical Greek philosophy and the learning journey.

Attention, cooperation, purpose: An approach to working in groups using insights from Wilfred Bion (2014)
Book

This book describes an approach based on attention that can help individuals and groups to cooperate more effectively. It presents the first book-length reassessment of Wilfred Bion’s ideas on groups. Every group has a purpose or purposes - or, as Bi... Read More about Attention, cooperation, purpose: An approach to working in groups using insights from Wilfred Bion.

Journeying and the experiential gaze in research: Theorizing as a form of knowing (2014)
Journal Article

In this paper, we consider the implications of the ideas of journeying and the experiential gaze for research practice. We do so by drawing first upon Plato's allegory of the Cave as a representation of the journey of the philosopher to see reality,... Read More about Journeying and the experiential gaze in research: Theorizing as a form of knowing.

Leadership Matters: Tensions in Evaluating Leadership Development (2013)
Journal Article

The Problem. This article explores some of the tensions that required careful management in the design and delivery of a leadership development program. This discussion draws particularly upon a formal evaluation of two cohorts, each comprising appro... Read More about Leadership Matters: Tensions in Evaluating Leadership Development.

Journeying and the experiential gaze in research (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In this paper we consider the implications of the ideas of journeying and the experiential gaze for research practice. We do so by drawing first upon Plato’s analogy of the Cave as a mythical representation of the journey of the philosopher to see ul... Read More about Journeying and the experiential gaze in research.

From theoria to theory: Leadership without contemplation (2012)
Journal Article

This article explores the transition of the theological and philosophical concept of theoria-contemplation-to the modern notion of theory. Theory derives linguistically from theoria and retains a connection with knowledge. However, it has lost and, m... Read More about From theoria to theory: Leadership without contemplation.

Complexity and change management: Analyzing church leaders' narratives (2012)
Journal Article

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel approach to the analysis of individual and co-constructed change management narratives, utilizing a framework derived from the theory of complex responsive processes. Design/methodology/appro... Read More about Complexity and change management: Analyzing church leaders' narratives.