Give me the Child and I'll Give You the Leader. What can attachment theory teach us about leadership?

Abstract

This paper considers John Bowlby's work on attachment theory as being a useful model for considering how our prelanguage needs influence the way we think, act, feel and behave as leaders and people. It considers the four types: secure and the three variations of insecure; ambivalent; avoidant and disorganised and how they inform the leader's view of self, view of others and how we are likely to behave under stress.It further offers the metaphor of ‘attachment’ and ‘loss’ to help us review and reflect on the way in which leaders and organisations ‘parent’ their staff, projects, organisations and are parented by their bosses, boards and funders.

Citation

Fraser, D. (2007), "Give me the Child and I'll Give You the Leader. What can attachment theory teach us about leadership?", International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 42-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/17479886200700020