22 Jan 2010
Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung produced a profound impact on the development of psychology in the 20th century. In fact, their impact is still very significant in the modern psychology and psychoanalysis. At the same time, their ideas and findings can be effectively applied in the contemporary management, especially in regard to leadership. Works of Freud and Jung explain human behavior and actions that is very important for the understanding of leadership in the contemporary business environment. As the matter of fact, Freud’s and Jung’s explanation of human behavior, its motives and causes allows understanding of the effective leadership strategies and what actually makes people follow the leader and accept the leader.
In this respect, it should be said that Freud’s and Jung’s ideas and theories can be applied to many contemporary approaches to leadership, such as the transformational approach which stands on the valuating of associates supporting and following the leader. In such a way, by means of the transformational approach, a leader can encourage his or her associates to follow him or her and improve their performance for the sake of the progress of the organization and to meet the expectations of the leader. At this point, the positive motivation and self-perception of associates are of the utmost importance for the successful implementation of the transformational approach. In such a context, the significance of theoretical developments of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung can hardly be underestimated.
First of all, it is important to underline that both Freud and Jung laid emphasis on the unconscious and its huge impact on the behavior and actions of people. In this respect, they argued that leadership and the attitude of people to leaders were determined by the unconscious (Walton and Huey, 1996). In fact, both Freud and Jung agreed that unconscious can shape human behavior. This idea is very important for the concept of leadership and various approaches applied in the contemporary management, including transformational approach. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the transformational approach is based on the valuation and appreciation of associates by the leader. In such a way, the leader shapes the positive attitude of associates to the organization and their role and function within the organization (Dessler, 2004). In this respect, the role of the unconscious can hardly be underestimated because it defines the model of behavior as well as relations between people, including relations between the leader and associates.
According to Freud, the attitude of an individual to the leader can be defined by his or her past experience which the person remembers on the unconscious level and which shapes his or her current relations with other people. For instance, if an individual had a psychological trauma because of the constant oppression from the part of parents in the childhood, it is likely that in the adulthood this individual will tend to take a subordinate position to a leader (Peters, 2007).
At the same time, it is important to underline that Freud focused on the personal unconscious. In contrast, Jung broadened views on the unconscious and, in addition to the Freudian personal unconscious, which affected the behavior of individuals, he also distinguished collective unconscious (Hesselbein and Cohen, 1999). This complementary concept is very important, especially if it is taken in the context of the transformational approach. In fact, Jung stands on the ground that the behavior of individuals may be influenced not only by their personal unconscious but also by the collective unconscious which shapes rules and standards of people within certain social group, which they perceive as norms on the unconscious level and to which they obey (Northouse, 2001). For instance, if a new individual joins a team of employees, he or she should necessarily adapt to the specificities of this group and a transformational leader can encourage the group to accept the new employee, but it is important to avoid the conflict between the new member and other employees. What is meant here is the fact that a leader suing transformational approach should avoid valuation of a new employee if it is not supported by the valuation of other employees who have been working in the organization for a longer period of time and vice versa, the lack of valuation of new employee can discourage them and the group on the level of its collective unconscious, will view the new employee as an outsider (Brown, 2003).
Thus, it is possible to conclude that theoretical developments of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung are very important for the contemporary leadership because they can facilitate consistently the interaction and communication of leaders and their associates and subordinates. Jung considered that “brain consisted of the forgotten conscious and a cluster of memories of past experiences”, whereas Freud believed that the brain was divided into three parts: The ID, The Ego, and The Superego. These statements were central in their doctrines. These researches were made in the past century, but I think, it is obligatory for modern leaders and politics to put their attention to these studies in their work.
References:
Brown, D. C. (2003). Leading complex change. New York: Touchstone.
Dessler, G. (2004). Management: principles and practices for tomorrows’ leaders (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Upper Saddle River.
Hesselbein, Frances, and Paul M. Cohen. (1999). Leader to leader. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Northouse, Peter G. (2001). Leadership theory and practice, second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Peters, G. (2007). New Economic Trends. New York: Random House.
Walton, Sam and John Huey. (1996). Sam Walton: Made in America: My story. Canada: Bantam Books.
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