Group Processes in the Movie, ‘As it is in Heaven’: Leadership that Enhances; Leadership that Stifles

• Published in: Group Analysis
• Main Author: Ofer, Gila
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2013
• Subjects: Psychiatry and Mental health; Clinical Psychology; Social Psychology; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0533316413496748; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0533316413496748; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0533316413496748

The movie tells the story of Daniel, who, after suffering a heart attack, retires from his glamorous life as a world famous orchestra conductor and returns to the peaceful village in northern Sweden in which he grew up as a child. The film presents a portrait of a society existing under the tutelage of the community pastor, under whose influence, community members keep their emotions and instincts locked up, blind themselves to what is going on around them and imprison themselves in stereotyped roles that prevent freedom and personal development. Daniel’s arrival brings a change to this. The aim of the article is to demonstrate through this movie the power of transformative leadership and the importance of going into the unknown, of transformation of the leader himself, and of enhancing individual members of the group by listening and looking.