The psychologist manager: Uniquely qualified to address 21st-century leadership challenges?

Abstract

This article proposes that the potential contribution of psychologists to the management profession is significant, distinct, and valuable in light of their humanistic training, high ethical standards, and networked-instead of warriorleadership style. The article maintains that with appropriate preparation, the psychologist manager can be uniquely poised to aid in the transformation of business and management practices in the 21st century. The authors consider the obstacles that limit psychologists' success as managers, including the traditional rigorous training of psychologists that emphasizes in-depth analysis and complete information that is often incompatible with the relentless pace of managerial decision making. The complexity, increasing diversity and plurality of the business environment calls for a skillful blending of the agentic and communal styles of leadership.

Leadership and Counseling Psychology: What Should We Know? Where Could We Go?

“…Psychologists who are experts in leadership research have published special issues of journals (e.g., American Psychologist , Chin, 2010; Sternberg, 2007) and comprehensive reviews (e.g., Annual Review of Psychology , Avolio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009) of the leadership literature. Psychologists have been described in the literature as particularly well-suited to leadership roles in areas as diverse as business (Kelly & Finkelman, 2011) and patient-centered medical homes (Beacham et al, 2017).…”

“…We consider here the relevance and applicability of a knowledge base in leadership to the field of counseling psychology. Leadership scholars who posit that psychologists in general may be well-suited to leadership roles cite factors such as humanistic training, high ethical standards, and a network-dependent (vs. lone “warrior”) leadership style as potential strengths (Kelly & Finkelman, 2011). We refine this notion to capture more specifically the distinct location of counseling psychologists within the larger discipline of psychology.…”

The changed leadership landscape: what matters today

“…Twenty-first century leaders are therefore expected to have some psychological foundations that can assist them in critical areas such as humanism, moral awareness, and a communal approach. The need for these psychological foundations becomes even more apparent when considering the major financial and ethical business crises the USA and other nations on the globe experienced in the first decade of this century, leading to an enhanced call for more sustainable business models, and increased focus on a triple bottom line, with people, planet, and profit as equally important parts (Kelly and Finkelman, 2011). Leadership and management theorists and practitioners are still digesting the transition that is happening in this area, as many workplaces, especially those in the for-profit arena, as well as business schools, are still struggling with the notion that 1312 JMD 34,10 leaders are no longer per se "Type A" personalities with a major sense of urgency, and a carrot-and-stick approach, or Type X, to reward or punish followers: Type X and Type Y management styles were named as such in the 1960s by Douglas McGregor in a process of fine-tuning an earlier management based finding by Tannenbaum and Schmidt.…”

“…The competitive advantage of the typical twentieth century leader no longer works as such, and it seems that exactly the opposite of what that leader represented matters today (Kelly and Finkelman, 2011). Twenty-first century leaders are not infatuated by the traditional win-lose approach, and do not necessarily have to be the overly aggressive, narcissistic aggressors who rather command than listen (Kelly and Finkelman).…”

Leadership in higher education: Opportunities and challenges for psychologist-managers.

“…There is ample evidence to support the notion that psychologists have many of the skill sets and knowledge to be effective leaders even without formal leadership training . For instance, Kelly and Finkelman (2011) asserted that, it would be surprising if psychologists as a whole do not skew toward the favorable ends of the relevant leadership and interpersonal skills scales, on the basis of their initial self-selection of the profession, their training, and their experience with people. (p. 203) In their subsequent book, Kelly and Finkelman (2013) concluded that “the psychologist-manager has the requisite analytical skills, ethical orientation, and networked leadership style to do well in the 21st-century organization” (p. 38).…”