Character Change in Executives as "Re-Form" in the Pursuit of Self-Worth

Abstract

For executives to improve the ways they lead their organizations, they may need to undergo not merely behavioral change, but also some change in character. Character is formed in response to the value placed on a child, and is the set of strategies a person adopts to achieve a sense of self-worth. Executives are usually shaped-and rewarded by their organizations-in ways that overemphasize an "expansive" way of life and self-worth based on mastery. The author presents findings from an intensive, ideographic, biographical action research project involving 39 upper-level managers that examined the subjects' life histories, their work and home environments, and their outer and inner lives. The research and change processes are illustrated with the case of one project participant who achieved and sustained both personal growth and improvements in his management style. Used with appropriate precautions, the whole-life approach to executive development can effect lasting, internalized change.