1. Seeking a Cure for Leadership in Our Lifetime.
- Author
-
Ackerman, Richard H. and Maslin-Ostrowski, Pat
- Abstract
This study examined how self-described "wounded school leaders" were being wounded by leadership itself. It grew out of three earlier studies that investigated the leadership crisis in U.S. schools, focusing on the similarities between the stories leaders were telling about crises in practice and those of individuals confronting medical illness. Data came from interviews with 65 superintendents, principals, and heads of independent schools who had experienced significant crises in their own leadership practice. Overall, leaders believed wounding took many forms, ranging from disappointments, problems, or disorienting dilemmas to full-blown crises. The wounding experience was driven by a fundamental underlying proposition: a leader is impelled into a state of dissonance to which he or she adapts. Byproducts of leadership work included vulnerability, fear, isolation, power, and fear of powerlessness. An important learnable moment for leaders often occurred during a wounding crisis and times of discord. Many school leaders became "other centered," carrying the weight of other people's worries, problems, and desires, then developing their own wounds precisely because they often believed they had to hide their fears and vulnerabilities from others. Leaders often believed they had to be helpers and fixers, as well as independent and strong, which thwarted them from listening to their own needs. (Contains 77 references.) (SM)
- Published
- 2002