Normative Leadership

Back in November 2012 Matthew Taylor, CEO of the RSA joined us for the second time to talk about what he was calling Normative Leadership.  It sparked debate and discussion which continued amongst the members over drinks.

This was an unfinished conversation and so Matthew agreed to meet me, the outcome of which is this blog; my interpretation on what he was proposing.   Please feel free to comment and continue the discussion.

Normative Leadership evolves as a potential answer to what Matthew describes as the Social Aspiration Gap – in essence the gap that occurs between the life (and/or society) that we aspire to, and that which we actually achieve.   The supposition is that to close the social aspiration gap new forms of leadership will be required and these can only emerge when we understand our current context.

The work of Mary Douglas developed initially in the 1970’s and subsequently refined during the 1980’s provides a lens through which we can can consider different cultural ideologies and power.