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No one deserves professional annihilation: Learning from women’s experiences of leadership work-caused trauma

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sharon MavinORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

This paper reveals learning from what happens when things go badly wrong for those in leadership. Rather than focus on the harm that leaders do, the study illustrates harm done to those in leadership. Ten women’s lived experiences of leadership work-caused trauma are explored through four themes: i) Malicious, Avoidable, Morally Indefensible; ii) Suffering: Completely Shocked, Deeply Distressed, Frightened; iii) Loss; and iv) Feeling Less than Human. The study provokes new ways of thinking about leadership and demonstrates leadership as a dangerous “enough” context for trauma research. It highlights psychological and emotional consequences of organizational actions towards those in leadership, and how leaders can suffer trauma, severely injured and diminished by organizations. Humanizing those in leadership, it provides insights into dark sides of leadership for leaders. The paper conceptualizes leadership work-caused trauma and theorizes women leaders’ experiences as annihilation, where they are fundamentally destroyed. As leadership work-caused trauma is new territory, it offers learning for managers, leaders, and organizations, and contributes a platform for future research.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Mavin S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Management Learning

Year: 2024

Pages: epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 30/09/2024

Acceptance date: 26/08/2024

Date deposited: 01/10/2024

ISSN (print): 1350-5076

ISSN (electronic): 1461-7307

Publisher: Sage

URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076241282739

DOI: 10.1177/13505076241282739

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