ABSTRACT
This chapter provides alternative ways of understanding the leadership task. It suggests that the poet archetype might be invoked in leaders hoping to connect at an emotional level with followers they would hope to influence. The chapter argues that trickster-type disruption can alert organisations to the generative possibilities of operating in sustainable ways, even as it destroys old mind-sets and habits. Although philosophers and philosophies differ wildly in their approaches and views, the underlying skill that underpins philosophical work is the ability to question deeply about the nature of things and to reflect on their significance. The philosopher thrives on questioning, analysing and negotiating meaning worlds. Informed by the philosopher archetype, such leaders would engage the skills of encouraging collective inquiry into how the organisation might best respond to the changing context. The chapter examines leading in a way that encourages and nourishes corporately sustainable organisational cultures is fundamentally a disruptive endeavour, akin to the actions of the trickster.
