Learning by Heart

Abstract

In broad terms, this paper is concerned with the inherent tensions in the relationship between the self and work and, specifically, with how these tensions become apparent in the relationship between management development and self-development. In particular, attention is given to the inherent conflicts in the construction of the managerial role. The paper considers the persuasive powers of organizational rhetoric and the disruptive power of the poetic. It considers how organizational rhetoric is used to secure 'appropriate' behaviour and contrasts this with the ambivalence it conceals. The paper argues that rhetorical acts must support the performance and be performed with authority and propriety and that the action thus takes precedence over the actors. The poetic is concerned with the very ambivalence which is concealed by masking. The poetic is always ambivalent and resonates with the flux of experience. The paper considers how the poetic stands in relation to rhetoric and cautions against attempts to appropriate the poetic in the service of the management role.