New Spillane-Joullié book now available on Amazon
This book develops a philosophy of leadership by tracing the evolution of Western ideas from philosophical perspectives, ancient and modern. Various philosophies — including ancient heroism, rationalism, cynicism, stoicism, machiavellianism, romanticism, heroic individualism and existentialism — are pursued through a critical analysis of those ideas which are relevant to an understanding of leadership and the authority and power relationships that underpin it. Leadership is a human encounter grounded in authority and it is through a process of authorisation that leaders get their power. Leaders, therefore, have to deal with the tension between personal and social power because for everyone who concedes authority to a leader there is a choice between authority and autonomy: leaders are generally attuned to this tension and to that choice. Philosophy of Leadership has been written to arouse curiosity, not to satisfy it.
