The transformative effects of the Shibboleth programme

Julia Romanowska

Chapter 12 in Leadership, Art, and Responsibility, 2026, pp 92-98 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the profound psychological and aestemethical transformation experienced by the leaders who took part in the Shibboleth programme. In stark contrast to the deterioration observed in the traditional programme, the Shibboleth participants entered a process marked by emotional intensity, vulnerability, and moments of sudden insight – a movement that reshaped both their self-understanding and their orientation towards others. The artistic encounters at the heart of Shibboleth reached deeply into their inner structure, revealing hidden experiences and long-suppressed emotions, which could be reinterpreted and integrated into a more expansive subjectivity. The transformation unfolded along two intersecting dimensions: the existential self, which shifted from objectification towards subjectification; and the relational self, which expanded from an “I”-centred stance towards a wider sense of belonging with others. Through this aestemethical extension, the leaders cultivated greater complexity, humility, and moral imagination. A renewed sense of responsibility emerged – no longer rooted in power or performance, but in an awakened sensitivity to human vulnerability and a strengthened willingness to act. Courage, moral attentiveness, and an expanded altruistic perspective intertwined to form the basis of a more ethically grounded way of leading. In this transformation, leadership appeared less as role or strategy, but an expression of one's humanity – a movement towards the Other.

Keywords: Estemethical Transformation; Existential Self; Relational Self; Subjectification; Moral Imagination; Psychological Complexity; Renewed Responsibility; Ethical Leadership (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781049403991
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781049404004.00018 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:25801_12

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().