Jon has a chapter The New Landscape of Leadership: Living in Radical Uncertainty in the forthcoming book The Tavistock Century which traces the history of the Tavistock Clinic from its early post war years up to the present.
It’s difficult to lead in 2019. Leaders are under scrutiny like never before. As a society, we are sceptical of leaders’ motives and competence. Why do they want to lead? Are they up to the job? It is not a radical idea to suggest leaders are no longer as powerful as they once seemed.
Britain’s destiny is uncertain. The country is in the middle of a political and, arguably, an identity crisis as well. At such a challenging moment it is understandable if people might long for a charismatic figure to lead them out of it.
The quickest and simplest solution to the chaos of Brexit, apparently, would be to install a new leader – someone with nerve, daring and, of course, charisma. But research into charismatic leadership reveals a number of reasons to be sceptical of these kinds of leaders.
