Sigmund Freud: The Pychodynamic Approach To Leadership

The psychodynamic approach to leadership has its roots in Sigmund Freud´s (1938).Emotionally disturbed individuals and psychological theories of personality development form the basis of psychodynamic approach. One branch of psychodynamic theory is called psychohistory, which attempts to explain the behaviour of famous historical figures (in text citation Kets de Vries 1999). This approach gives importance making leader obtain good understanding on personality of oneself and to give importance and also encourages the group members to understand their personalities. This makes the team members to understand their reactions to the leader and each other. Important concepts in psychodynamic approach to leadership include e.g. the family of origin, individuation, dependence and independence, regression and the shadow self. These concepts come from psychoanalysis and psychiatry and can sometimes be abstruse and not easily understood. That is the reason that there have been attempts to make psychodynamic theory more accessible. The psychodynamic approach emphasizes the idea that people gain their initial experiences with leadership from the day they are born. Under or over gratified at any stage the child may become fixated and this could affect adult behaviour. The way a person perceives and expresses emotions may change as the years go by, influenced by life experiences (in-text citations of ,Darwin 1920; Plutchick 1980; Tomkins 1995). The Clinical Paradigm unlocks and