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“The Doriot and Tanoto Libraries are hosting a showcase on the following INSEAD book:

Down the rabbit hole of leadership: leadership pathology in everyday life
by  Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries

In the previous book in this series, the author observed the experiences of leaders on a rollercoaster ride through their professional and personal lives. Now, the author follows them down the rabbit hole into the unknown, where, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, they find a dystopian Wonderland in which everyone seems to have gone mad and life functions according to its own crazy logic, throwing up all kinds of obstacles in the search for truth. Understanding what is happening around us has become more difficult than ever in the Age of Trump. Don’t imperatives like “build that wall” sound very much like “Off with his head”? Unfortunately, and unlike Alice, we are not going to wake up from a bad dream and discover that everything is “nothing but a pack of cards”. The first part of this book looks at the psychodynamics of leadership in both a business and a political context. The second focuses on the psychopathology of everyday life in organizations and the seemingly endless ways people can make a mess of things – including mega pay packages, acting out, digital addiction and other dysfunctional behaviour patterns. Each chapter ends with a brief anecdote to illustrate the dilemma it presents. In short, sharp nuggets, the author helps make sense of how the madness of the present has affected leadership in organizations and the workplace.

From 21 January to 3 February.