Abstracts
Résumé
La notion moderne de leadership, dans l’espoir de devenir un concept opératoire, se cherche des sources d’inspiration positive tout comme elle peut trouver profit à se démarquer nettement de modèles contrevenant à l’esprit qui l’anime ou qu’elle cherche à promouvoir. C’est dans ce contexte d’investigation conceptuelle tâtonnante qu’a été entreprise la présente recherche concernant la relation entre un leader d’aujourd’hui et ses associés, et le Bon Pasteur et ses brebis, telle qu’elle se dégage de l’immense patrimoine d’images que recouvre ce sujet dans la tradition chrétienne, à la lumière des huit principaux types iconographiques ayant eu ou ayant encore cours dans le monde chrétien. L’analyse conclut à l’inadéquation globale des relations qui se créent et se cherchent à notre époque entre un leader et son équipe, et celles que célèbrent les images chrétiennes du Bon Pasteur avec ses brebis, faute, entre autres, de réactivité et d’initiative créatrice chez ces dernières.
Abstract
In hope of becoming operative, the contemporary concept of leadership is often on the lookout for positive sources of inspiration that it will then try to promote and/or to set up against other models that it considers to be less inspiring, and against which it therefore wants to react. It is to contribute to this groping about search for a concept of leadership that this contribution has been undertaken. Its goal is to identify what relationship (if any) can be made between the contemporary reality of leadership and followership and both (i) the image of the Good Shepherd and his sheep as well as (ii) the gigantic iconographic patrimony that has come to define this image, within the Christian tradition. In light of an examination of eight iconographic types that have been used or are still used to depict the image, within the Christian tradition, the viability and potential fruitfulness of using this image, to speak of leadership, is examined. The analysis performed leads to a conclusion of inadequacy between, on the one hand, the relationships that exist (or are sought) between contemporary leaders and followers and, on the other hand, those that are celebrated in the Christian images of the Good Shepherd and his sheep. This inadequacy is in large part due to the lack of reactivity and creative initiative on the part of the sheep.