Leadership and self deception: getting out of the box

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Outside the Box Leadership and self-deception is an influential text that considers the nature of leadership in a variety of situational elements. Specifically the text considers issues of leadership surrounding situations within the Arbinger Institute. The text is relayed in a first person narrative format through Tom Callum, an executive recently hired at the organization. As the title suggests one of the predominant concerns within the novel is that it represents a concern with self-awareness in the face of social and business relations. To be more specific, the concern with self-awareness is related to a concern with self-deception. It’s argued that one of the primary elements of self-deception is that of self-betrayal. This occurs when an individual fails to live up to expectations they had for their life and then attempt to cover them up through acts of self-deception. Throughout the book a number of elements related to this are considered as they related to self-deception and self-betrayal elements. The general thematic crux of this understanding is that while self-deception and self-betrayal are crucial elements, what becomes even more profound is when the individual goes onto live a life structured around their self-betrayal, so that all aspects of their existence are related to justifying this self-deception. It follows then that individuals who exhibit this type of behavior are said to be in the box of self-deception. The book then offers a variety of perspectives on the means by which these individuals can overcome this deception and move outside of the box. References The Arbinger Institute; Leadership and Self-Deception; Berrett- Koehler Publishers; San Francisco