Women Leaders as Containers: Systems Psychodynamic Insights into their Unconscious Roles

Abstract

This article explores the self-defined roles of women leaders working in higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa in the context of systems psychodynamics and thereby increase the understanding of unconscious dynamics in HEIs. This qualitative study is based on the research paradigm of Dilthey's modern hermeneutics. Women leaders are containers of anxieties, while they act out defense mechanisms, such as splitting, projection, projective identification, introjection, idealization, simplification and rationalization. Splitting seems to be important in terms of categories such as mother/professional, mother/daughter, women/men leaders and White/Black women leaders. Women leaders further have introjected the roles of their mothers and female family members from their childhood. They do not embrace the full authority and agency of their leadership, and explore their own difficulties and negative emotions in others through projective identification. The findings create awareness of the roles of women leaders, strengthen women leadership and emphasise the need for leadership training taking the systems psychodynamic perspective into account.Keywords: women leader, professional roles, family roles, workplace, higher education, role confusion, South Africa AbstractEste artículo explora los roles autodefinidos de las mujeres líderes que trabajan en instituciones de educación superior (IES) en Sudáfrica en el contexto de la psicodinámica de sistemas y de ese modo aumenta la comprensión de la dinámica inconsciente en las IES. Este estudio cualitativo se basa en el paradigma de investigación de la hermenéutica moderna de Dilthey. Las mujeres líderes son contenedores de ansiedades, mientras que actúan mecanismos de defensa, como la división, la proyección, la identificación proyectiva, la introyección, la idealización, la simplificación y la racionalización. La división se da en términos de categorías como madre / profesional, madre / hija, mujeres / hombres líderes y mujeres blancas / negras. Las mujeres líderes también han introyectado los roles de sus madres y mujeres miembros de la familia desde su infancia. No abarcan toda la autoridad y la agencia de su liderazgo. Los hallazgos crean conciencia sobre los roles de las mujeres líderes, fortalecen el liderazgo de las mujeres y enfatizan la necesidad de capacitación en liderazgo teniendo en cuenta la perspectiva psicodinámica de los sistemas.

Anxiety and excitement in the fourth industrial revolution: A systems- psychodynamic perspective

“…Bion (1961) conferred that exposed organisations operate in two kinds of procedures: the working group refers to the conscious attention on the complex organisational task, whilst the central group performs unconsciously in congruence or incongruence with the working group with the task to decrease anxiety in order to continue to exist (Steyn & Cilliers, 2016). Systems psychodynamics foster knowledge concerning the conscious and unconscious psychodynamics working in an organisation (Amado, 1995;May, 2019;Mayer, Oosthuizen, Tonelli, & Surtee, 2018). Applying the SP perspective empowers consultants, researchers and others to work with 4IR conscious and unconscious crescendos, organisational composition and strategy and the collaboration between the two (Mayer, 2020).…”

At the edge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Employees’ perceptions of employment equity from a CIBART perspective

“…Defence mechanisms may fluctuate in responses, for example, splitting, projection, projective identification and idealisation (Blackman, 2004). Only if the system addresses the anxiety and integrates positive and negative aspects of itself can it cater for objective human relations to finally contain the anxiety (Cytrynbaum & Noumair, 2004;Mayer, Oosthuizen, Tonelli, & Surtee, 2018a;Mayer, Tonelli, Oosthuizen, & Surtee, 2018b;Geldenhuys, 2012). Steyn and Cilliers (2016) provide an overview of five possible group behaviour reactions to manage anxiety in the system, such as: (1) relating to an imaginative caring parental figure, (2) pairing up of individuals and/or powerful objects to manage the pain of anxiety, (3) fight or flight against an (imaginative) enemy, (4) oneness or we-ness to create individuality, while joining in a force to experience health, and (5) me-ness, in the way of denouncing or detaching from the group affiliation to cope with emotional demands.…”

“…Employees may likewise utilise defence mechanisms, for example, projection to guarantee that the EE work environment is protected and tolerating. Employees will endeavour to make tracks in an opposite direction from this uneasiness by utilising fight or flight as defence mechanism (Mayer et al, 2018a(Mayer et al, , 2018b.…”

“…Identity refers to the realisation of what the individual leader stands for and what lies within one's own boundary (Cilliers & Koortzen, 2005;Koortzen & Cilliers, 2007). Thus, Identity refers to the integration of the right to perform the primary task as officially sanctioned by the system represented by leaders from above, colleagues from the side, subordinates from below and by employees themselves from within -the system's uniqueness through its psychological characteristics (Mayer et al, 2018a(Mayer et al, , 2018b. A challenge, which employees may have in such a manner, identifies with employees' endeavours to incorporate the character elements of being an EE employee, into their current personality.…”

“…A challenge, which employees may have in such a manner, identifies with employees' endeavours to incorporate the character elements of being an EE employee, into their current personality. This incorporates better approaches for being, having new mental models and coordinating various new capabilities, abilities and practices, which are not customarily part of their organisational roles (Mayer et al, 2018a(Mayer et al, , 2018b. The reconciliation of these and the introduction of this 'new' personality in the organisation, just as the acknowledgment of this by the organisation, are a portion of the difficulties which employees need to cope with (Steyn & Cilliers, 2016).…”