System Imago: A New Perspective on Leadership and Power

Abstract

This article explores the idea of how an individual’s sociocultural intersectional identities influence the amount of power and influence they can wield in their position as a leader in groups. Based on her experiences of facilitating international process groups, the author introduces the new concept of system imago and compares and contrasts it to the concept of group imago. The notion of system imago invites the reader to look at how systems self-organize and the different unconscious roles individuals end up taking in perpetuating systems that only promote people with certain intersectional identities. This article emphasizes how social conditioning and unconscious biases can continue to perpetuate cycles of systemic oppression and render leaders from an underprivileged background in a powerless position despite their positional power in systems. The article concludes with reflective questions to invite readers to look at how they might work as allies to support leaders from nonprivileged backgrounds and bring about social change.

Keywords:

• Group imago
• oppression
• system imago
• throne position
• regions of leadership
• intersectionality
• “Be careful” driver
• emotional labor
• allyship
• transactional analysis

Disclosure Statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Anisha Pandya

Anisha Pandya, TSTA (P & E), is in private practice in Mumbai, India. She can be reached at 3A/E Wing, Viceroy Court, Thakur Village, Kandivali East, Mumbai – 400101, India; email: [email protected].