Anais
Resumo do trabalho
Estudos Organizacionais · Comportamento Organizacional
Título
The Fourth Knot: A Lacanian-Winnicottian Framework for Holding in Complex Leadership
Palavras-chave
Leadership
Complex Leadership
Holdership
Agradecimento:
The author gratefully acknowledges support from The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Minas Gerais Research Foundation (FAPEMIG).
Autores
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Anderson de Souza Sant'AnnaESCOLA DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO DE EMPRESAS DE SÃO PAULO (FGV-EAESP)
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Fatima Bayma OliveiraFGV EBAPE - Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública e de Empresas
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Daniela Martins DinizUNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SÃO JOÃO DEL REI (UFSJ)
Resumo
Introdução
In an era of volatility and complexity, traditional leadership theories often fail to explain how organizations maintain coherence under disruption. This article explores how psychoanalytic theory can illuminate symbolic, structural, and affective dimensions of leadership and organizing.
Problema de Pesquisa e Objetivo
This study addresses the gap in theories that integrate symbolic and emotional containment into leadership models. It introduces the “Fourth Knot” as a psychoanalytic and relational framework for sustaining coherence in complex organizational systems.
Fundamentação Teórica
Grounded in Lacanian and Winnicottian psychoanalysis, the model draws from the Borromean knot and the concept of holding environments. It integrates strategy, structure, culture, and systems as dynamically interdependent domains held together by symbolic and affective mediation.
Discussão
The Fourth Knot reframes leadership as a holding function - relational, distributed, and recursive - rather than hierarchical or trait-based. It is especially useful for analyzing coherence in post-bureaucratic, adaptive, and emotionally complex organizations.
Conclusão
Rather than prescribing static alignment, the model proposes a grammar for re-knotting meaning and structure amid disruption. Leadership becomes an ongoing act of maintaining tension and enabling symbolic integration.
Contribuição / Impacto
The article contributes to organizational behavior by formalizing a psychoanalytic-relational model of leadership. It opens empirical and theoretical pathways for studying symbolic resilience, emotional containment, and dynamic coherence in complex systems.
Referências Bibliográficas
Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (2018); Czarniawska, B. (2004); Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R., & McKelvey, B. (2007); Lacan (2005); Winnicott (1965); Uhl-Bien (2006); Žižek (2006); Glynos & Stavrakakis (2008); Krantz (2006)