Is ‘Person-Centred Leadership’ an oxymoron? – Interview with Max Hope
Suggested Reference
Max Hope & Wilson J (2012). Is ‘Person-Centred Leadership’ an oxymoron? – Interview with Max Hope. [ONLINE] Available at: http://onlinevents.co.uk/is-person-centred-leadership-an-oxymoron-interview-with-max-hope/. [Last Accessed 23/01/2012].
As part of our commitment to exploring the wider applications of the person-centred approach, we will be interviewing Max Hope about person-centred approaches to leadership.
The person-centred approach is not, and has never been, limited to psychotherapy. Indeed, Rogers’ interest in the ‘persons of tomorrow’ was a description of how people might function in the world, and not in the therapy room. He wrote extensively about the potential of the person-centred approach in relation to politics, administration, dealing with international conflict, education, parenting and interpersonal relationships (Rogers, 1980).
The concept of leadership is inextricably linked with power, and this can cause problems for person-centred practitioners in leadership positions. Indeed, some might even argue that ‘person-centred leadership’ is an oxymoron. Max Hope disagrees, and it is this that we will be discussing during this interview.
Rogers argued that “the politics of a person-centred organization is 180 degrees removed from that of a traditional organization” (Rogers, 1978, p104). Max argues that it is this which makes person-centred leadership possible, but in order to make sense of this, we have to be prepared to completely re-think our definition of ‘leadership’. We have to change our perception that a ‘leader’ is a powerful individual at the top of a hierarchy. Instead, a person-centred leader can use their organisational role to actively re-distribute power, to trust in the actualising tendency of all individuals, to create the conditions whereby an organisation and the individuals within it can function effectively. Person-centred leaders can use their role to create structures and processes which enable others to share in the task of leadership.
Max’s ideas about person-centred leadership are heavily influenced by person-centred practitioners such as Rogers, Natiello (2001) and Gordon (1951). She also draws from approaches to leadership which she considers complimentary, including democratic leadership and servant-leadership.
Max Hope has a professional background as a youth and community worker and it is within this field that she developed practical experience of the challenges of striving to be a person-centred leader. More recently, she has completed a PhD about democratic approaches to education. She currently works as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Hull. Her key areas of interest are democracy, inclusion and the person-centred approach to education and leadership.
References
Gordon, T. (1951). Group-Centered Leadership and Administration. Client Centered Therapy. C. Rogers. London, Constable.
Natiello, P. (2001). The Person-Centred Approach: a passionate presence. Herefordshire, PCCS Books.
Rogers, C. R. (1978). Carl Rogers on Personal Power. London, Constable & Co Ltd.
Rogers, C. (1980). A Way of Being. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company.
