PARA IJSO EXCLIJSIVO EN CLASE

ESCIJELA DE POSTGRADO IJNIVERSIDAD DEL PACIFICO

THE CLINICAL FARADIGM: A FRIMER FOR

FERSONAL CHANGE

Manyphilosophers, poets, andotherthinkershavepositedthroughout the ages that the key to growth and happiness lies in knowing
and accepting oneself. A variation on this themethat leadership
development starts with an exploration of, and by, the leader
himself or herselfwill reappear in many chapters in this book. In
undertaking this kind of human adventure, we use a concise but
robust framework: the clinical paradigm. The clinical paradigm
is based on several premises. The first premise is that all humixo
deviant
ise poses a huge challenge to a business school professor, an executive coach, or other professionals working with leaders; it means
they will have to use the tools and methods of a psychological
detective to uncover explanatory factors underlying the behavior
they perceive. Fortunately, the leader as an executive education
or coaching client can become a detective as well; the clinical
paradigm, when explained, offers the coach or educator a tremendous opportunity to use the leaders own behavior as a real-life
case study, with the added advantage that this particular text is
sure to be of interest to the executive concerned.
The second premise of the clinical paradigm tells us that our ;

unconscious plays a tremendous

The
areas outside our direct rational observation and understanding
are enormous, although they directly impact what happens in
the so-called rational domain of our actions. Obviously, until
we grasp at least some of the content of our irrational domain,
it is unlikely that we can do anything with it. Moreover, the
unconscious can hold executives as prisoners of their own past,

Tornado de: Kets De Vries. 2007. Manfred et at Coach and Couch. The psychology of making better leaders. Cap 1. Ph. 3 -13.

Palgrave MacMillan 2007

THE CLINICAL PARADIGM: A PRIMER FOR PERSONAL CHANGE

not letting them get rid of things that become a hindrance to

tF.eir deie1opment and growth as leadr amet as iiuman beings.
Plenty of executives refuse to consider the possibility that there
may be issues in their work and life that originate in the area
beyond their comprehension or their immediate awareness.
Faculty members and executive coaches may do well to begin
by helping these individuals understand that being afraid of
looking into the unconscious may be counterproductive to
ones development. Looking into this domain may require courage, though, and this is where the leadership development professional can provide help and support. As an example, in one
of our executive programs, we take participants to an exhibition
about the life and work of Sigmund Freud. This visit comes as a
surprise at the end of a long class day and before a good dinner,
and many of the executives initially try to avoid the visit, or
reveal their anxiety through complaints or negative comments.
However, once in the museum, hearing about Freuds cases and
seeing examples of how the unconscious may affect their lives,
they start to realize how making the effort to look into oneself
may signihcantly boost career and life success.
The third premise of the clinical paradigm is that our
emotions coiitrihute to our idexi it and _hehavior.
acquire different ways of expressing and
Throughout
regulating emotion, and in parallel, our cognitive, thinking side
becomes more sophisticated. Cognition and emotion together
eventually determine what we do and what we dont do. By
exploring our emotions, we can access the more hidden parts of
our identity: the type of emotion we express when doing certain
things, imagining certain events, or dealing with certain people
explains in part who we are. Emotional awareness also allows
us to predict what kind of situations we naturally seek or avoid,

and what kind of people we prefer or loathe; these insights

therefore help explain our behavioral preferences and relationship patterns. Executive educators, coaches, and consultants
may hnd the concept of the role of emotions important when
working with people who have difhculties expressing their
emotions. By helping individuals acknowledge how they feel,
and how their feelings affect their behavior, leadership development professionals give their clients another lens for perceiving
behavior and another key to changing it.
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