ILA Podcast

No Shared Notion of Reality

Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leaders

with Dr. Suze Wilson

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Dr. Suze Wilson discusses the intersections of disinformation, trust, and leadership. People are not prepared to tolerate any discomfort or sacrifices needed to address big challenges like climate change or pandemics. Instead they reject science and embrace conspiratorial ideas. One possible antidote is increasing the power and authority of trusted community leaders.

Quote From This Episode

“You can’t even begin to lead when you have no shared notion of reality. We have no shared discourse about what is real and what isn’t real. And that poses a real threat.”

About Dr. Suze Wilson

Dr. Suze Wilson,  is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at Massey University. She is passionate about all things leadership along with an abiding interest in how we can make organisations both effective for external stakeholders and enjoyable places to work for employees.

Her doctoral research examined why and how it has become normalized in recent decades to equate ‘leadership’ with grandiose expectations of ‘transformation’, ‘vision’, and ‘charisma’. She argues these ideas, when examined closely, actually create undesirable pressures on leaders, grant them excessive powers, and rely on the problematic assumption that ‘followers’ are inherently inadequate. She is interested in theorising and practising leadership in ways that are more inclusive and humble.

More recently, she’s written a short op-ed exploring how conspiratorialism and the so-called infodemic are undermining the good pandemic leadership we had benefitted from in New Zealand and thinking about the wider undermining of legitimate authority and the potential for a shared reality that these dangerous and toxic influences pose and what that might mean for leadership.

Host Scott J. Allen

Scott Allen

Scott J. Allen, Ph.D., is the Standard Products—Dr. James S. Reid Chair in Management at John Carroll University. He is an associate professor and teaches courses in leadership, management skills, and executive communication. He is also a communications coach, consultant, author, podcast host, and entrepreneur. For almost two decades, he’s worked with clients to improve their leadership and communication skills. Learn more about Scott here.

About Phronesis

Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leaders offers a smart, fast-paced discussion on all things leadership. Scott and his expert guests cover timely, relevant topics and incorporate practical tips designed to help you make a difference in how you lead and live.