Humans are naturally complicated and unique to one another. What influences and drives a person to do or think something may differ greatly from the next person. It is these facts that are at the heart of the Psychodynamic Approach to leadership. The Psychodynamic Approach to leadership focuses on the dynamics of human behavior, and the idea that if we study what affects a person’s behavior, we can understand how he or she functions and why they react or act in certain ways, and in turn use that information to be better leaders and followers. It is rooted in the ideas of traditional psychoanalysis and the studies of Freud. The Psychodynamic Approach is important to leadership in the workplace for two reasons. One, if a leader is successfully introspective and knows their characteristics and inner drivers, they will be in tune to their emotional responses and can guide their actions towards their team accordingly and potentially more successfully. Additionally, if they are more aware of their followers’ emotional reactions and pattern responses, they may be able to tailor their leadership style towards their followers and better guide them toward goal attainment.
Here are some basic ideas behind the Psychodynamic approach:
- We are all a result of our past experiences. Our personalities are developed through our experiences, in particular, shaped throughout the early stages of our lives. These early experiences help to create our response patterns to others and contribute to the creation of different relationship themes.
- There is an explanation behind every one of our actions. Even if our actions aren’t rational, a rational and logical explanation behind the actions exists.
- Many of our feelings, fears, motives, lie in our subconscious. We aren’t always consciously aware of the things that drive our personality and actions, but they do have a major effect on our reactions and relationships.
- How we regulate and express our emotions is central to who we are (Northouse 297). Our emotions guide how we feel about different experiences, and how we mentally file them away.
- Everyone is different, has a unique personality, and has different motivational drivers.
It is important and prudent for anyone to be aware of what has shaped their personality and emotional responses over time understand or at least recognize his or her nuances. If we understand some of these things about ourselves, we can recognize when our negative reactions start to emerge and hopefully mitigate them. For example, over time I have come to realize that I am quick to become self-defensive when a mistake or oversight I have made is brought to my attention, especially by a superior. While I can’t exactly pinpoint this behavior towards an early experience in my life (even though many psychologists who subscribe to the old-school psychoanalytical theories of Freud would certainly point out that there must be something deep in the depths of my upbringing), I can now recognize this behavior. Ever since I realized this pattern of reaction, I have been able to develop a better emotional response to being reprimanded or reminded of something. I am able to tell myself that the mistake is not a big deal, and it is fixable, which causes me to react more appropriately without a defensive chip on my shoulder. Being able to do this makes me a better follower and a better teammate to my leader. I am more approachable, and better able to meet our team’s goals, which in turn is a success for my supervisor.
My current supervisor is Jean. She does a very good job at recognizing the individual personalities and motivational patterns of her team members. She supervises nine people, and tailors her approaches to each of us to accomplish the tasks at hand. We work for a state government office, in particular an assistance office, or what many would call “welfare.” We are responsible for evaluating people’s eligibility for benefits, processing applications, renewing benefits, acting on changes, and more. It is a complex job that has many different aspects and deadlines that are imperative to be met. If deadlines aren’t met or mistakes are made, our state government could lose funding for certain programs. Needless to say, it can be a stressful job and as we know, everyone reacts differently to stress. Jean has to make sure that her team is meeting their deadlines, and processing cases correctly.
Luckily, Jean seems to recognize the basic factors of the Psychodynamic Approach. She recognizes our individual personalities and seems to be able to guide each of us slightly differently to get the job done. One team member, Kevin, is very defensive when it comes to being told pretty much anything, often blows certain things out of proportion, and has a temper. Jean has adapted to this over the last few years. It is apparent that she has changed her tone of voice and her choice of words when instructing him on what to do next or what needs to be done. Since she has done that, the defensiveness and quick to anger has definitely decreased. Jean has tailored her communication and motivation strategies towards all of us as she recognizes our differences and has grown to realize what drives each of us.
It is obvious that Jean is more of a successful leader when she knows her subordinates and uses the information she knows to guide her processes. Leaders are more successful when they are both reflective of themselves, and aware of their followers’ emotional and motivational patterns. The Psychodynamic Approach towards leadership delves into the idea that if one tries to understand a person’s behavior and the driving forces behind it, one can use that information to lead more effectively. Any organization will have more success if it employs leaders and followers who are more introspective and can recognize the experiences that have shaped them and their reactional patterns.
References
Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE Publications, Inc.
Pennsylvania State University. (2017). Lesson 3: Psychodynamic Approach. In
PSYCH485: Leadership in Work Settings: Spring 2017. Retrieved from:
The psychodynamic approach takes a deeper look at the traits that we have as leaders. Much of how we lead or act is learned behavior from observations of past events or situations. When we experience a variety of issues throughout our lives it helps us to be prepared for similar or equal decisions in the future. We learn about our own physiological makeup, and hopefully can improve from there. We learn by observing and experiencing, and that has a big impact on how we lead.
As you had mentioned the psychodynamic approach assumes that our behaviors stem from childhood or early adulthood experiences (McLeod, 2007). This is a concept that that I can relate to strongly. Growing up I was a very timid child, and most situations intimidated me. When I got to high school I joined an ROTC program where I was put into situations that forced me to gain confidence, communications skills, and leadership. During this program the classes had to practice marching in formation several times a week. When we first started this routine I was embarrassed, and was more concerned with what others had thought about what I was doing. As many a couple years went by I gained the confidence to eventually navigate my own flight. As I matured I realized that I was part of a respectable organization. I stood for something, and the group helped me to develop as a person. I still use the skills that I obtained from that group. I saw how Sargent and Colonel lead the group and knew that I wanted to have a similar stature.
I currently work in human resources as a placement specialist or recruiter. I interview people all day long, and have to discover their individual personalities in a short perios of time in order to place them in a successful position. Sometimes the short amount of time that I spend with them does not do justice. Many times I have to invite them back into the office or do a follow up phone interview so that I can gather more information of their experiences. Sometimes people will get defensive as to why I cant place them in certain jobs, but it is my job to guide them into a position that can be long term. I would never want to put an employee in a situation where they would not be able to go to hire, or feel like they are wasting their time. I have been in that position before, and would not want to do that to someone.
Thank you for your input on this topic, and your well thought-out examples. They related very well to the subject matter, and I think it is a place we have all been before.
McLeod, S. (2007). Psychodynamic Approach. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html