Premium
Eric Voegelin, Reflexive Distance, and Harnessing the Benefits of Metaxy: The Leader's Imperative to Participate in History and Becoming
Author(s) -
Thomas Oliver
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of leadership studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.219
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1935-262X
pISSN - 1935-2611
DOI - 10.1002/jls.21365
Subject(s) - reflexivity , narrative , normative , order (exchange) , epistemology , sociology , historiography , process (computing) , situated , environmental ethics , political science , law , social science , philosophy , computer science , business , linguistics , finance , artificial intelligence , operating system
The capacity to lead consciously is connected to the leader's knowledge of the self and one's environment. Eric Voegelin stipulated that gaining reflexive distance through comparative historical knowledge allowed for a deeper understanding of an individual's place in society. Citing his works, the current article explains the utility to leaders in understanding historiography, confronting narratives of the past, and criticizing previous normative structures. Leaders come to understand their place in the process of “becoming” by confronting the past. Harnessing the capacity to reflect, leaders can use history as a mirror to demand more of themselves and followers. Moreover, as leaders come to comprehend symbols of mankind's attempt to make sense of the universe and to establish some degree of order, disruptions to the “order” can paradoxically manifest growth. Conscious leaders thus become adaptive rather than reactive.