The Leadership Identity Journey

An Artful Reflection

By (author) Carol A. Mullen, Fenwick W. English, William A. Kealy

Publication date:

05 June 2014

Length of book:

146 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781475808575

The Leadership Identity Journey takes readers on a breathtaking, all-consuming, transformative journey. The invitation is to think of your life as a journey that follows a mythic path. By doing so, new possibilities emerge for thinking about leadership identity and preparation, as well as artistic research and the education field. The perspectives described in this book are supported by school leaders’ insights into powerful iconic photographs relative to the five mythic life phases: the human condition, trials in life, human triumph, human transformation, and human crossing, with the addition of leadership as a dimension of the life-journey model. The authors conducted their study using selected photographs framed by the universal mythic framework inspired by mythologist Joseph Campbell.

List of Figures and Tables
Foreword: Confessions of a (Reforming) Structural-Functionalist-Karen Seashore Louis
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Sketching the Universal Leadership Journey
Chapter 2: Witnessing Educational Leaders on the Mythic Journey
Chapter 3: Seeing, Believing, and Constructing Meaning
Chapter 4: Describing Relevance for Leadership Practice
Chapter 5: Revealing Relevance for Practice, Preparation, and Research
Coda
References
About the Authors

Whether you’re a veteran administrator, or a younger person only contemplating getting into academic leadership, you’ll want to read and reflect on this book. You’ll be helped to know what to expect as typical for someone who accepted the leadership call. You’ll know to watch for and learn from your mentors. You’ll become aware of the universality of significant leadership-journey challenges. You’ll be better prepared for setbacks and wounds to your self-esteem. You’ll be inspired to both accept and surmount challenges and to spot opportunities to provide assistance and comfort to others. Best of all, you’ll be better equipped to enjoy the journey.