![]() But there are other.Telling a story is one of the most ancient and human acts we can perform. It is a methodology to organize life events into a coherent whole that provides inherent meaning and adheres to the individual's overall values.įor many, religion serves as a metanarrative. The metanarrative is more than just a story. A metanarrative is an all-encompassing (meta, Greek word for behind) true story (narrative) about the history, purpose, and goals of humanity that provides the foundation for the interpretation of information and organization of knowledge. ![]() In his book, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, (2) he posited that the postmodern epoch was characterized by "an incredulity toward metanarratives." He coined the term metanarrative to help describe the postmodern era. The French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard wrote extensively about postmodernism. Philosophers believe we have witnessed the beginning of a new epoch, the postmodern era characterized by pluralism and the deconstruction of the authoritative sources that have contributed to the way we think. Over the last century, society has grown disenchanted with science, which did not appear to provide all the answers. During this period, knowledge was based on reason, scientific logic, and proof. It was an era of science and discovery that stretched to 1950. The dominant source of such information was the church. The premodern era, where people accepted knowledge from authoritative sources without proof, spanned from the earliest recorded time up to about 1650 AD. Western philosophers divide history into 3 broad, basic periods or epochs, times with dominant philosophical systems or ways of thinking: premodern, modern, and postmodern. To understand the metanarrative, we must first look at the major influences that affect humanity, and then review a number of individual values that most would agree are important foundations for leadership. As they put it, "There is a nonspurious relationship between leadership effectiveness and the presence of an integrated metanarrative in the life of a leader." (1)Įffective leaders can better appreciate and build on their own metanarrative, and more effectively work to train the next generation of leaders by remaining true to principles and understanding the role of generational sociology on the application of leadership and leadership development. Leadership researchers Irving and Klenke proposed that a leader's story, particularly when it represents a "metanarrative," or all-encompassing story, is part of a leader's effectiveness. Each of us lives within our own story-a narrative that defines who we are and contributes to our leadership effectiveness. We each must understand that one thing that holds the secret of our life. ![]() The same question holds true for the leader in the modern world. "That's what you've got to figure out." The old cowboy replies. "Yeah, but what's that one thing?" Mitch asks. You stick to that and everything else don't mean "Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing. In the movie City Slickers (Castle Rock Entertainment, 1991), the old cowboy, Curly Washburn, challenges city-slicker Mitch Robbins:
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