Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Start ‘Em Early: Pastoral Power and the Confessional Culture of Leadership Development in the US University

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We apply a critical perspective on leadership development discourses and practices to the case of student leadership development programs in the US universities and colleges. We leverage the first author’s personal experiences as a facilitator in such programs to focus on the manner in which they adapt and deploy a variety of commodified pop and positive psychology techniques—including prominently among them icebreakers and psychological assessment tests—that encourage participants to share personal and emotional insights about themselves as the necessary prerequisite for becoming leaders. We draw on Foucault’s notion of pastoral power to argue that these quasi-therapeutic practices help to produce and to normalize what we describe as a confessional culture of leadership development that prepares would-be student leaders to submit themselves to similarly or even more psychologically demanding regimes of governmentality in the workplace after they graduate. We conclude with a call for future research on the central role of such leadership development practices—and the institutions, industries, and actors that promote them—in folding together the ways that individuals seek to claim agency and to develop themselves as leaders with the ways that organizations function to constrain that agency and to govern them as willing but compliant subjects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, S. J., & Hartman, N. S. (2009). Sources of learning in student leadership development programming. Journal of Leadership Studies, 3(3), 6–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson, M., & Kärreman, D. (2000). Varieties of discourse: On the study of organizations through discourse analysis. Human Relations, 53(9), 1125–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alvesson, M., & Willmott, H. (2002). Identity regulation as organizational control: Producing the appropriate individual. Journal of Management Studies, 39(5), 619–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, G. L., & Grinberg, J. (1998). Educational administration as a disciplinary practice: Appropriating Foucault’s view of power, discourse, and method. Educational Administration Quarterly, 34(3), 329–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asplund, J., Agrawal, S., Hodges, T., Harter, J. & Lopez, S. J. (2014). The Clifton Strengthsfinder® 2.0 technical report. Gallup. Retrieved January 3, 2020, from https://rgdoi.net/10.13140/2.1.3408.7366.

  • Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, K. Jr. (2013). Building a strengths-based campus. CliftonStrengths Coaching Blog. Retrieved January 10, 2019, from https://coaching.gallup.com/2013/10/building-strengths-based-campus.html.

  • Bell, E., & Taylor, S. (2003). The elevation of work: Pastoral power and the new age work ethic. Organization, 10(2), 329–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besley, T. (2005). Self-denial or self-mastery? Foucault’s genealogy of the confessional self. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 33(3), 365–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besley, T., & Peters, M. (2007). Subjectivity and truth: Foucault, education, and the culture of self. Counterpoints. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blithe, S. J. (2019). “I always knew I was a little girly”: The gendering of skills in management training. Management Learning, 50(5), 517–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boler, M. (2004). Feeling power: Emotions and education. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, N., Delaney, H., & Spoelstra, S. (2017). The gray zone: Questionable research practices in the business school. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 16(1), 94–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, C., & Hayes, L. A. (2016). Self-efficacy and self-awareness: Moral insights to increased leader effectiveness. Journal of Management Development, 35(9), 1163–1173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, B., & Nicholson, H. (2014). Resistance and struggle in leadership development. Human Relations, 67(11), 1413–1436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case, P., & Phillipson, G. (2004). Astrology, alchemy and retro-organization theory: An astro-genealogical critique of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. Organization, 11(4), 473–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chlup, D. T., & Collins, T. E. (2010). Breaking the ice: Using ice-breakers and re-energizers with adult learners. Adult Learning, 21(3–4), 34–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clifton Strengths for Students. (2019). Student leadership development, Vanderbilt University. Retrieved January 6, 2020, from https://www.vanderbilt.edu/leadership/programs/cliftonstrengths/.

  • Collinson, D. (2011). Critical leadership studies. In A. Bryman, D. Collinson, K. Grint, B. Jackson, & M. Uhl-Bien (Eds.), The Sage handbook of leadership (pp. 181–194). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collinson, D. (2012). Prozac leadership and the limits of positive thinking. Leadership, 8(2), 87–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cvetkovich, A. (2003). An archive of feelings: Trauma, sexuality, and lesbian public cultures. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ecclestone, K., & Hayes, D. (2009). The dangerous rise of therapeutic education. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Eich, D. (2008). A grounded theory of high-quality leadership programs: Perspectives from student leadership development programs in higher education. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 15(2), 176–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N., Mulderrig, J., & Wodak, R. (2011). Critical discourse analysis. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction (2nd ed., pp. 357–378). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fairhurst, G. T. (2007). Discursive leadership In Conversation with leadership psychology. Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fejes, A. (2011). Confession, in-service training and reflective practices. British Educational Research Journal, 37(5), 797–812.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fejes, A. (2016). The confessing academic and living the present otherwise: Appraisal interviews and logbooks in academia. European Educational Research Journal, 15(4), 395–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferry, N. C. (2018). There’s a leader in you!: A critical mapping of leadership discourse in the American university. Doctoral Diss., Washington State University, Pullman, WA.

  • Finch-Lees, T., Mabey, C., & Liefooghe, A. (2005). ‘In the name of capability’: A critical discursive evaluation of competency-based management development. Human Relations, 58(9), 1185–1222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, J., & Harding, N. (2007). Move over management: We are all leaders now. Management Learning, 38(5), 475–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. Critical Inquiry, 8(4), 777–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M., Burchell, G., Senellart, M., Ewald, F. & Fontana, A. (2009). Security, territory, population: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1977–78. Retrieved June 13, 2019, from https://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=736155.

  • Fry, L. W. (2009). Spiritual leadership as a model for student inner development. Journal of Leadership Studies, 3(3), 79–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, S. (2008). Compelling identity: Selves and insecurity in global, corporate management development. Management Learning, 39(4), 375–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, S., & Collinson, D. (2014). Rethinking global leadership development programmes: The interrelated significance of power, context and identity. Organization Studies, 35(5), 645–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gehrke, S. J. (2008). Leadership through meaning-making: An empirical exploration of spirituality and leadership in college students. Journal of College Student Development, 49(4), 351–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goucher College. (2020). Leadership resources: Teambuilding. Retrieved from https://www.goucher.edu/experience/getting-involved/leadership/documents/Team-Building.pdf.

  • Guthey, E., Clark, T., & Jackson, B. (2009). Demystifying business celebrity. New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Helping Kids Have Great Lives Starts With Focusing On What They Do Best. (2020). Clifton StrengthsExplorer. Retrieved January 3, 2020, from https://www.strengths-explorer.com/home.aspx.

  • Hinz, K., Stubblefield, R. & Soria, K. (2012). Strengths at the U: Creating a strengths-based undergraduate experience. The University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 6, 2020, from https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/157256.

  • Hunter, I. (1994). Rethinking the school: Subjectivity, bureaucracy, criticism. Questions in cultural studies. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illouz, E. (2008). Saving the modern soul: Therapy, emotions, and the culture of self-help. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, D. M. (2013). Exploring instructional strategies in student leadership development programming. Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(4), 48–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellerman, B. (2012). The end of leadership. New York: Harper Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempster, S., & Stewart, J. (2010). Becoming a leader: A co-produced autoethnographic exploration of situated learning of leadership practice. Management Learning, 41(2), 205–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiersch, C., & Peters, J. (2017). Leadership from the inside out: Student leadership development within authentic leadership and servant leadership frameworks. Journal of Leadership Education, 16(1), 148–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, S., Walsh, D. & Souza, J. (2003). Team challenge course and mobile initiatives manual. Retrieved from https://venture.uncc.edu/sites/venture.uncc.edu/files/tcc-mobile-manual.pdf.

  • Komives, S. R., & Wagner, W. (2017). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the social change model of leadership development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2014). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming an exemplary leader. San Francisco, CA: A Wiley Brand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kouzes, J. M., & Pozner, B. Z. (2006). Student leadership practices inventory: Facilitator’s guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lasch, C. (1991). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. New York: Norton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCuaig, L., Öhman, M., & Wright, J. (2013). Shepherds in the gym: Employing a pastoral power analytic on caring teaching in HPE. Sport, Education and Society, 18(6), 788–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadesan, M. H. (1997). Constructing paper dolls: The discourse of personality testing in organizational practice. Communication Theory, 7(3), 189–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, H., & Carroll, B. (2013). Identity undoing and power relations in leadership development. Human Relations, 66(9), 1225–1248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, H. (2011). The undoing of identity in leadership development. Thesis, The University of Auckland Business School, Auckland, New Zealand.

  • Petriglieri, G. (2011). Identity workspaces for leadership development. In S. Snook, N. Nohria, & R. Khurana (Eds.), The handbook for teaching leadership (pp. 295–312). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petriglieri, G., Wood, J., & Petriglieri, J. (2011). Up close and personal: Building foundations for leaders’ development through the personalization of management learning. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 10(3), 430–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, J. (2015). Leadership BS: Fixing workplaces and careers one truth at a time. New York: Harper Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. New York: Gallup Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, A. (2011). Being leaders: Identities and identity work in leadership. In A. Bryman, D. Collinson, K. Grint, B. Jackson, & M. Uhl-Bien (Eds.), The Sage handbook of leadership (pp. 508–517). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sixth College at the University of California, San Diego. (2019). Icebreakers, team building activities, and energizers. Retrieved February 11, 2019, from https://sixth.ucsd.edu/_files/_home/student-life/icebreakers-teambuilding-activities-energizers.pdf.

  • Sixth College at the University of California, San Diego. (2019). Leadership tip sheet. (2020). Goucher College. Retrieved from https://sixth.ucsd.edu/_files/_home/student-life/leadership-tip-sheets.pdf.

  • Smolović Jones, O., Grint, K., & Cammock, P. (2015). Public leadership development facilitation and the crossroads blues. Management Learning, 46(4), 391–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugerman, J., Scullard, M., & Wilhelm, E. (2011). The 8 dimensions of leadership: DiSC strategies for becoming a better leader. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tennant, M., McMullen, C., & Kaczynski, D. (2010). Teaching, learning, and research in higher education: A critical approach. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townley, B. (1993). Foucault, power/knowledge, and its relevance for human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 518–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trilling, L. (1955). Freud and the crisis of our culture. Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon, F. (2014). The paradox of structured autonomy. Other Education, 3(2), 22–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildemeersch, D. (2014). The confessing society: Foucault, confession and practices of lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 33(1), 107–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. City University of Seattle, 521 Wall Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA, 98121, USA

    Nicole Ferry

  2. Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Eric Guthey

Authors
  1. Nicole Ferry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eric Guthey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicole Ferry.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This paper does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

This paper does not contain any studies with human participants or animals and therefore required no informed consent.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ferry, N., Guthey, E. Start ‘Em Early: Pastoral Power and the Confessional Culture of Leadership Development in the US University. J Bus Ethics 173, 723–736 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04565-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04565-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation