Existentialism and Leadership: A Response to John Lawler with Some Further Thoughts

Abstract

Abstract

The Philosopher Leader: On Relationalism, Ethics and Reflexivity—A Critical Perspective to Teaching Leadership

“…Philosophy provides a framework within which we interpret our experiences and judge ourselves and situations' (Rice, 1960: 135). Since then, a number of authors have suggested philosophy can enhance organization studies and management education (Ashman, 2007;Calori, 2003;Chatterjee, 1998;Chia and Morgan, 1996;Cooper and Burrell, 1988;Gosling, 1996;Grint, 2007;Hendry, 2006;Martin, 2006). It is this work I wish to contribute to, by offering a way of thinking aboutand teaching-leadership through a philosophical lens.…”

Radical Authentic Leadership: Co-creating the conditions under which all members of the organization can be authentic

“…They argue that the existential perspective can deepen the understanding of leadership as it values the individual and the subjective, and acknowledges the inter-subjective dynamics of relationships in leadership. Ashman (2007) suggests that existentialism contributes to the study of leadership by focusing the attention on the everyday experiences of subjects, rather than on the abstract generalizations common to leadership research. Existentialism is increasingly utilized within organization studies and has been argued to be particularly useful in integrating the individual and organizational levels of analysis (Pauchant & Morin, 2008).…”

Reframing the Purpose of Business Education: Crowding-in a Culture of Moral Self-Awareness

“…We suggest that executives who persist in maintaining the outdated shareholder value myth (Stout, 2012) are engaging in a denial perhaps best described as a kind of existential "bad faith" (Sartre, 1993;Ashman, 2007). For too long, many business leaders have indulged in a similar kind of bad faith emblematic of their own denial that their companies have moral obligations for their impact (including unintentional) on society.…”