Between rhetoric and reality: a psychosocial study of participatory change leadership

Purpose Participatory approaches to organizational change offer many benefits, yet change leaders struggle to relinquish control. This study aims to use psychodynamic methods to explore the conscious and unconscious dynamics that impact how leaders conceptualize and enact their change leadership roles. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory, multiple-case design collected data from eight business leaders through free association narrative interviews and graphic elicitation. Within-case and cross-case individual analyses were conducted using a combination of structured pattern finding and a gestalt approach. Findings Results show leaders struggle to balance primary task obligations with secondary task expectations, creating tension and a double-task bind. This can result in the performance rather than genuine implementation of participatory change, allowing leaders to appear collaborative and maintain control. Whether conscious or unconscious, this can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failed participatory change. Originality/value This study is the first to use a combination of psychodynamic methods to explore the complex dynamics of participatory change leadership and demonstrates the value of noting both conscious and unconscious processes that impact role formation.