GUILLET, GUILLET2019-09-252019-09-252016-12-162016http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/160976Based on the metaphor of the leader as a tool for effectiveness, traditional leadership literature assumes leadership either to be the result of innate personal traits or to develop out of a conscious intellectual praxis. In this perspective leadership success comes from the conscious understanding of leadership concepts. Replacing the traditional “tool” metaphor by the image of a leader as an “inner self explorer”, this research assumes leadership failures to essentially result from psychological blockings. Starting from the major causes of leadership failures pointed out in literature this research develops a theoretical framework connecting the psychological origins of these causes with specific psychological blockings using Jungian theory and the individuation process. To achieve leader empowerment, leaders interact with and integrate archetypes of the second and third phase of individuation. This work offers a new perspective on leader behavior and sheds light on the psychological requirements for leader development.freCreative Commons Copyright (CC 2.5)leader developmentleadership failuresanalytical psychologyindividuationleaders empowermentPolitical ethicsGovernance and ethicsEconomic ethicsBusiness ethicsCommunity ethicsEducation and ethicsPreprint