Life and Death in the Executive Fast Lane

World-renowned management guru and expert in corporate neurosis Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries puts organizations on the couch. By combining the dismal science of management and the impossible profession of psychoanalysis, Kets de Vries presents eclectic advice on how things really work in organizations. These brief and insightful essays not only decipher problems that are common in organizational life, but they also shed light on some of the underlying dimensions that often go unnoticed. Kets de Vries covers everything from leadership and entrepreneurship to downsizing and managing acquisitions, using contemporary examples like Robert Maxwell, Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Robert Coles, and John Gardner.

Part One: Leaders and the Organization 1. If I'm the Leader, Will Anyone Follow? A Definition of Leadership 2. Welcome to the Snake Pit: The New CEO 3. Boiled Frogs and Dancing Elephants: Change and Downsizing 4. Merger Fever: Managing Acquisition 5. Do You Like Singing the Company Song? Corporate Culture 6. A Cultural Tower of Babel: Managing Across Borders 7. Are You Sure You Want to Work Abroad? International Assignments 8. Do You Have the Right Stuff? The Making of a Global Leader 9. When the Future Is Now: Leadership for the Next Millennium Part Two: Leaders and Individuals 10. Is Anatomy Really Destiny? Women as Leaders 11. Joining the Family Burlesque: Family Firms 12. Reaping the Whirlwind: Creativity at Work 13. CEOs Also Have the Blues: Succession and Retirement 14. Do Workaholics Have More Fun? Balancing Work and Pleasure 15. Dead Fish, Incorporated: Alexithymia in Organizations 16. Doing a Maxwell: The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship 17. Why Work for a Genghis Khan? Identifying with the Aggressor 18. Leaders Who Go Off the Deep End: Narcissism and Hubris 19. Conclusion: In Praise of a Little Madness