Online

Russell, Mercy Burton

College of Education and Social Services

2016

EdD

ABSTRACT Leadership consultants bring specialized knowledge into their clients' organizations. Advisor leadership consultants (ALC) trained as psychotherapists apply concepts from human behavior theories as advisors to business leaders. They also bring service-oriented professional norms and values of objectivity, neutrality, and lack of self-interest. Their business clients in the market sector operate according to norms and values of pragmatism, financial self-interest, and advocacy. In order to establish credibility in the organizational field of business clients, leadership consultants must negotiate between these different value systems. This study is a grounded theory inquiry using narrative analysis tools to study how ALCs navigate across the boundaries of psychotherapy practice and consultation in the corporate setting. How do they describe their practice choices as well as the principles and theoretical framework underlying those choices? In-depth interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 10 leadership consultants credentialed and experienced as psychotherapists. A snowball method of participant recruitment from my social and professional network yielded a group of 10 ALCs aged 50 to 86. Each of these ALCs entered their careers with a predisposition for business from their families. They each experienced significant loss in early life and followed divergent educational and career pathways. They have built their leadership consulting practices accepting business practices to gain access to clients while incorporating important relationship principles. As institutional entrepreneurs, they managed conflict with values in both the service and the marketplace sectors through innovative therapy, consulting and business practices.