Research
Poula Helth got her Ph.D. degree at Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in March 2018 after 2 years of intensive action research in 10 Danish companies among 80 leaders, and a study stay at Tisch School NYU. Her study has primarily focused on action research in both public and private organizations. The participants, mainly leaders, have experimented with problems in their leadership and learned how they can obtain sustainable transformations of their practice. They have been working with social dramas in a form of aesthetic dramas and thus learned how they can change their leadership.
Conclusions of Helth’ research: aesthetic leadership can change leaders’ practice, when the leaders learn to experiment through body, space and thoughts, and to reflect on the experiences of their experiences. Finally, leaders gain new transformative competences and a new force of action when they master transitions between the social drama and the aesthetic drama.
Biography
Poula Helth is a researcher in leadership and learning theories and a former management consultant and coach in her own consultancy. Accordingly, she is an external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School and a lecturer at the Technical University of Denmark in educations for managers. As an important part of her career, Poula has contributed to new theories of leadership, learning and communication, i.e., published more than 20 textbooks on that topic.
Besides Poula holds a MSc of political science and has an education in narrative psychology and philosophy. She has been CEO in a Danish municipality and has had different management jobs, including director in her own management consultancy. In her professional life, she has been doing different kind of research and evaluation. Furthermore, Poula has been responsible for changing processes and workshops based on new methods of communication. She is known for giving numerous public speeches on leadership and communication.
Poula Helth is author of 26 books and articles in the period from 2011 to 2022, focusing on management and leadership, philosophy for leaders, communication as a narrative practice and art based leadership.