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The Role of the Leader’s Personality in the Dynamics of the Organization’s Development

Student: Aksyonova Elena

Supervisor: Alexander Evdokimenko

Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Business Consulting (Master)

Year of Graduation: 2021

This work aims to explore the dark sides of the phenomenon of leadership and, in particular, to study the phenomenon of destructive leadership. In this work, an attempt is made to analyze the phenomenon of leadership with its "Dark side". The description of destructive leadership is given, its properties, possible causes of its appearance are investigated; the main existing approaches to the study of this phenomenon have been investigated, and some directions of action have been proposed that will minimize the consequences of destructive leadership. This approach to the development of leadership theory is quite young. Research in this direction first began to be published only in the late 20th - early 21st centuries. The psychoanalytic method of research, observing a person for a long time, provides important knowledge about the activity of consciousness, revealing the meanings of the most personal, emotional experiences. It is more effective than competing theories in making inferences about the meaning of phenomena that cannot be understood in other ways. Psychodynamic orientation allows you to understand the model of the organization's functioning, examining the leader, his desires, fantasies, internal conflicts and how they influence behavior. In this paper, we will try to examine the hidden dynamics associated with personal motivation, leadership, secret motives, social defenses, toxic organizational culture, organizations charged with the leader's neurosis, and also analyze how the past can influence the personality of the leader and the organization. In our work, we will analyze the organization as a living organism, as a system that lives its own conscious and unconscious life. In business, as in life, knowledge of psychology is an important stage in the psychological health of an organization. Organizations cannot grow and develop if leaders ignore the irrational processes and accidents that are part of the inner world of the organization's participants. The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of using a psychoanalytic approach to destructive leadership in an organization. Object of research: leaders of organizations Subject of research: destructive traits of a leader that create a toxic environment in the organization. Theoretical tasks: 1) conduct a historical analysis of leadership theories and theories of destructive leadership, 2) consider the existing approaches to the typology of destructive leadership and conduct a comparative analysis of the considered approaches, 3) consider personality models - obsessive-compulsive and narcissistic. Empirical task: to investigate the influence of the destructive traits of a leader on the corporate culture of the organization. Research methods: biographical and bibliographic analysis of the development of leaders in organizations and the history of the development of the organizations themselves. Research hypothesis: destructive traits of a leader form a toxic environment and culture in an organization, largely determine the ways of development of this organization, limiting it in its capabilities. Practical significance: the conducted research in the field of destructive leadership makes it possible to carry out training seminars, consultations on the preparation of effective leaders, using their shadow sides for the benefit of the company and the leader himself; provide an opportunity to look at the leader of the organization from a psychoanalytic point of view; the results of the analysis of the personality of leaders, presented in the second chapter, can be used as lecture material for training organizational consultants and mentors. The work consists of two chapters, introduction, conclusion and bibliography. Each chapter includes four sections. The list of references consists of 90 sources, 60 of which are foreign. This work contains 6 tables.

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