Episode 3 - Literature and Leadership: A Conversation with the Oxford Future Leaders Programme Team

This week's episode is inspired by my experience as a participant in the University of Oxford's Future Leaders Programme where I have taken part in various character-based training sessions and cultivated my leadership skills. I am joined by the facilitators of the Programme: Angela Unsworth (the Director of Accommodation, Conferences and Catering at Jesus College), Neil Unsworth (Head of Resilience at Oxford), Anjali Sarkar (Senior Manager at the Oxford Character Project) and Edward Brookes (Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations). Together, we explore how literature and leadership intersect in many ways as one can often redefine, shape or even challenge the other. Our conversation explores the way that literature, including children's literature, can embody the key virtues that constitute good leadership and that we aim to emulate as readers. This leads us to consider how literature can equally complicate the image of a 'good leader' by presenting psychological complexity in ways that textbooks or guides on leadership cannot do. Inspired by The Arts of Leading: Perspectives from the Humanities and the Liberal Arts, we conceptualise the roles of writers and readers as one of leaders and followers. Building upon the concept of toxic charismatic leadership, as described in the book, literature reveals the complex behaviour of followers, too, when readers find themselves supporting Machiavellian leaders. Our discussion segues into an exploration of storytelling as a tool for leadership, uncovering the narratives that leaders tell themselves and their followers in pursuit of a shared goal. As stories continue to shape who we are and how we lead, this episode turns to literature in order to understand the very meaning of effective leadership. If you enjoyed this episode and want to stick around for the next one, do hit follow and review the show! Music credits go to Isobel (Issi) Marklew.