Abstract
Rudolf Otto introduced in his famous book from 1917 “Das Heilige” (The Idea of the Holy, 1923) the concept of the “numinous” in order to highlight that “the holy” combines the elements of the terrifying (“tremendum”) and the fascinating (“fascinans”). Even though originally intended to conceptualize the phenomenon of mystic religious experience, it was soon “borrowed” by psychoanalysts like Carl Jung and others to conceptualize other phenomena. Is the notion of the “numinous” also present in literature on leadership? What role plays the “numinous” for the genesis and experience of leadership? Is the very fact that some seek leadership and others attempt to provide leadership a “holy” phenomenon? In this paper, I instrumentalize Rudolf Otto’s concept of the “numinous” in order to critically analyze selected publications by Michael Maccoby, a popular and influential leadership scholar as well as consultant.
Presenters
Stefan LitzAssociate Professor, Department of Management, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Numinous, Psychoanalysis, Leadership, Literature, Analysis
