Hi Katja,
I think it depends on how seriously you take the metaphor. There are
literally hundreds of books that talk about the art of leadership, but by
and large they just mean that leadership is not a science. Some do use the
metaphor of leadership as an art a bit more seriously (Max DePree's
"Leadership is an Art" and "Leadership Jazz" come to mind, and certainly
Peter Vaill's "Managing as a Performing Art" - DePree is a CEO and Vaill is
an academic.).
I think the first book that I've seen that really takes the idea of
leadership as an art seriously is Mary Jo Hatch's "The Three Faces of
Leadership". In particular, the first chapter does a great job of making
the case for looking at leadership as an art. (Mary Jo is a member of
AACORN.)
Recently, I've encountered a couple of books that draw on actual arts
practices to develop leadership. "Leadership Presence" by Halpern and Lubar
applies acting techniques to develop people as leaders, and "The Dance of
Leadership" by Denhardt and Denhardt applies dance practice to leadership.
(Halpern and Lubar are actors / consultants and both Denhardts are
academics.)
I look forward to hearing others' takes on this question.
Cheers,
Steve
Steven S. Taylor, PhD
Assistant Professor
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Department of Management
100 Institute Rd
Worcester, MA 01609
USA
+1 508-831-5557
[log in to unmask]
On 8/28/06 6:16 AM, "Katja Lindqvist" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear Acorners,
>
> does anyone have any suggestions for literature on the myth of
> leaders/managers as artists?
>
> I'm going into this question in writing, and mostly have literature on the
> aesthetics of organisation and managment, but don't really have the full
> picture of the frequency of this metaphor in business research and literature.
>
> I'd be great to hear from the ACORN network what you've come across
>
> Best,
> Katja
>
> Katja Lindqvist
> Fil. dr, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet
> PhD, Stockholm University School of Business
> Visiting scholar at Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali, University of Bologna
> [log in to unmask]
|