Harry Levinson On The Psychology Of Leadership

This timely book marshals more than a dozen of Levinson's most insightful writings on work-life issues, from avoiding burnout to pursuing a second career, from dealing with abrasive personalities to handling the emotional and career challenges facing middle-aged managers.

"Bearding The Lion That Roared" showcases chapters published by Harry Levinson, corporate consulting pioneer and founder of psychoanalytic organizational theory and practice. (Diamond, 2003.)" Harry Levinson, the son of a Polish, Jewish tailor from Lodz, was born in Port Jervis, New York more than 80 years ago. Considered by many as the founder of psychoanalytic organization psychology, he was awarded the prestigious American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology in 2000. Now semi-retired and living with his wife Miriam in Delray Beach, Florida, he is chairman of The Levinson Institute, and Clinical Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Articles presented here illustrate Levinson's consulting work with senior executives, managers, and leaders in emotionally challenging circumstances. Spanning more than fifty years, Harry has inspired countless next-generation psychologists with his dedication to advancing organizational consulting psychology. His keen observations, easy to read case studies, and insightful interactions with consultants as well as clients, led him to be recognized as a legend in his own time, in the professional community to whom this volume is dedicated.

This book explores organizations as not simply rational, technological structures and networks for organizing people around tasks and services; it defines organizations as relational, experiential, and perceptual systems.

Solidly anchored in research findings and counseling experience, this book provides detailed guidance on the skills, self-knowledge, attitudes, and behavior necessary for career success. Practical advice on working effectively with a problem boss, cultivating productive relationships with co-workers, and succeeding in a major career change are among the topics covered.

Views the common assumption that people are motivated by rewards and punishments as destructive to the business organization, and puts forward new theories of human motivation.

"For over 50 years, Harry Levinson, a pioneer in the field of organizational consulting psychology, has applied his extensive clinical expertise to the understanding of organizational assessment and intervention. In this volume, editors Freedman and Bradt present 18 of Levinson's landmark contributions that explore how and why consultants diagnose organizational and managerial pathology. These chapters showcase Levinson's astute clinical and counseling insights on organizational diagnosis, leadership, consultation, and stress. I/O and business management consultants will learn how to expertly apply these techniques to various organizational problems as well as enhance their own self-reflective awareness."--BOOK JACKET.

"Bearding The Lion That Roared" showcases chapters published by Harry Levinson, corporate consulting pioneer and founder of psychoanalytic organizational theory and practice. (Diamond, 2003.)" Harry Levinson, the son of a Polish, Jewish tailor from Lodz, was born in Port Jervis, New York more than 80 years ago. Considered by many as the founder of psychoanalytic organization psychology, he was awarded the prestigious American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology in 2000. Now semi-retired and living with his wife Miriam in Delray Beach, Florida, he is chairman of The Levinson Institute, and Clinical Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Articles presented here illustrate Levinson's consulting work with senior executives, managers, and leaders in emotionally challenging circumstances. Spanning more than fifty years, Harry has inspired countless next-generation psychologists with his dedication to advancing organizational consulting psychology. His keen observations, easy to read case studies, and insightful interactions with consultants as well as clients, led him to be recognized as a legend in his own time, in the professional community to whom this volume is dedicated.

Allcorn and Diamond argue that the workplace has become ever more threatening to employees, and that they respond by creating psychological defenses that make the workplace ever more dysfunctional. To keep organizations competitive and sustain the value of their stock, management demands constant improvements in their employees' performance, but often the result is just the opposite of what management wants. Allcorn and Diamond explore this process in depth, and introduce a comprehensive and internally consistent, psychologically informed model of human development and behavior, one that explains for the first time the nature of the psychologically defensive workplace. In doing so, they challenge readers to think systematically about the psychological side of the workplace and to understand the importance of dealing effectively with employee defensiveness. The result is an authoritative study with valuable lessons and immediate benefits for corporate executives, and for scholars and researchers in organizational behavor in the academic community. Allcorn and Diamond's model is applicable to understanding five aspects of the workplace: first, how individuals respond to its stresses and anxieties; second, the psychologically defensive nature of interpersonal relationships at work; third, what the psychologically defensive group processes are; fourth, the dynamics of psychological defenses; and fifth, how the model is used to understand the connection of all organizations to the larger society in which they are imbedded. The authors' goal is to help management understand what actually is going on in today's workplace, the consequence of downsizing and other cost-reduction initiatives, and how important it is for management for relieve the problems they cause.

Action learning is a dynamic process that involves a small group of people solving real organizational problems, while focusing on how their learning can benefit individuals, groups, and the larger organization.