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Book part
Publication date: 5 October 2018

Boas Shamir and Galit Eilam-Shamir

In this paper, we first develop the concepts of authentic leaders, authentic leadership, and authentic leader development. We suggest a definition of authentic leaders, which is…

Abstract

In this paper, we first develop the concepts of authentic leaders, authentic leadership, and authentic leader development. We suggest a definition of authentic leaders, which is based on the leader’s self-concept: his or her self-knowledge, self-concept clarity, self-concordance, and person-role merger, and on the extent to which the leader’s self-concept is expressed in his or her behavior. Following, we offer a life-story approach to the development of authentic leaders. We argue that authentic leadership rests heavily on the self-relevant meanings the leader attaches to his or her life experiences, and these meanings are captured in the leader’s life-story. We suggest that self-knowledge, self-concept clarity, and person-role merger are derived from the life-story. Therefore, the construction of a life-story is a major element in the development of authentic leaders. We further argue that the life-story provides followers with a major source of information on which to base their judgments about the leader’s authenticity. We conclude by drawing some practical implications from this approach and presenting suggestions for further research.

Details

Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-200-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2007

Adele Flood

Through biographies we read the fragments of people’s lives that have been structured into a narrative discourse, the written text the mediating force that turns ’narrative into…

Abstract

Through biographies we read the fragments of people’s lives that have been structured into a narrative discourse, the written text the mediating force that turns ’narrative into logic’ (Ricoeur, 1984, p. 30) This article reflects upon the fragmented nature of memories through both the stories of the author and the written works from a selection of influential texts encountered by the author. The photographs in this article frame a series of disjointed images that are connected to me through narrated stories. How much of these stories do I truly remember and how much do I embellish? The storytellers, my grandparents, are dead yet the stories remain. They are the connections I have with my family history and they are the historical conceptions I frame my personal discourse within (Flood, 2003). When trying to make sense of our lives it is to the fragments of memory we turn to construct our stories. The author, through the telling of her stories and the recounting of significant events surrounding her family’s histories as told by her grandmother, provides an exemplar of how such fragments can add to the understanding of the self. She reveals that by encountering such fragments within a life story, we can begin to make sense of our lives.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence: How Leaders Can Thrive in Complex, Confusing and Contradictory Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-776-4

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Gail Crimmins, Alison L. Black, Janice K. Jones, Sarah Loch and Julianne Impiccini

The authors, seven women–writers–performers–artists–academics, have been working collectively for a year, storying, de-storying and re-storying the experience of our lives. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors, seven women–writers–performers–artists–academics, have been working collectively for a year, storying, de-storying and re-storying the experience of our lives. The authors write to “taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect” (Nin, 1976), to uncover and learn ourselves through writing (Richardson, 1997), to take the “risky” steps of talking to each other about our inner lives (Palmer, 1998). Cognisant of the limitations and masculinities of traditional academic discourses, in form and content, and heavily confined by neoliberal expectations to count and be counted, we write and express the stories of lives the authors did not choose or imagine – lives we are given and live through. Our expression inhabits aesthetic, contemplative and sensory ways of knowing and employs poetry, image, song and story to create a polyvocal account of women’s lives, voices, struggles and learning. The authors share here part of our collective memoir and its development. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is designed as a collective memoir.

Findings

The authors write and express the stories of lives we did not choose or imagine – lives we are given and live through. The expression inhabits aesthetic, contemplative and sensory ways of knowing and employs poetry, image, song and story to create a polyvocal account of women’s lives, voices, struggles and learning. The authors share here part of our collective memoir and its development.

Research limitations/implications

The research focuses on autoethnography and lived experience.

Originality/value

Auto-ethnography/lived experience offers rich insights into the personal and political actions and actors within higher education.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Jacqueline Kindell, Simon Burrow, Ray Wilkinson and John David Keady

Life story work has a relatively long tradition in the caring sciences and is recognised as an important component of dementia care and practice. However, to date, there has not…

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Abstract

Purpose

Life story work has a relatively long tradition in the caring sciences and is recognised as an important component of dementia care and practice. However, to date, there has not been a review of accessible life story resources. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a systematic approach to identification and inclusion, 11 life story resources were reviewed to ascertain areas of commonality and divergence between the materials.

Findings

The authors were able to group the analysis under eight areas and at the end of this process, it was uncertain if life story work is a formal staff intervention or an informal activity that people with dementia and their families could engage in. Resources also varied in terms of whether the life story information was organised in a chronological way, or with topics of interest/discussion or with a combination of both. Life story evaluation and its impact on the life of the person with dementia is in need of development.

Practical implications

Across the resources the authors identified four reasons to do life story work which the authors have named as: emotional connections; interactional connections; building new connections and practical care connections.

Social implications

There was limited guidance aimed at helping people with dementia to develop and compile their own life story.

Originality/value

This paper provides new insights into the usefulness, future directions and content of life story resources in dementia care. It will be of interest to those in health and social care as well as people living with dementia.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

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Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Alex Kevill, Kiran Trehan, Mark Easterby-Smith and David Higgins

The purpose of this paper is to provide small business and entrepreneurship researchers with insights to help them undertake life story interviewing, in order that this can…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide small business and entrepreneurship researchers with insights to help them undertake life story interviewing, in order that this can subsequently advance understanding within the field.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors describe, and reflect upon, the use of a life story interview approach that formed part of the data collection process for a research study into dynamic capabilities in micro-organisations.

Findings

The life story interview approach the authors utilised can generate benefits for both the purposes of the research study and the interviewee. Nevertheless, “unexpected lack of time” and “owner-managerial control”, two common contextual factors within micro-organisations, are factors that may raise challenges for successfully undertaking life story interviewing in such organisations. Ultimately the interviewer needs to respond to such challenges by making “stick or twist” decisions with regard to the interview format being used.

Research limitations/implications

The authors provide an example of an interview approach that researchers can use for future research within the field of small business and entrepreneurship. The authors also prepare interviewers for challenges they may experience within the field and the potential need for them to make “stick or twist” decisions.

Originality/value

The authors explicate a specific life story interview approach which is new to the field of small business and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the authors highlight potential complexities in undertaking this interview approach within micro-organisations. Prior work within the field has tended to give little consideration to challenges of undertaking life story interviews.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 4 November 2014

Ellen Ndeshi Namhila

The purpose of this paper is to describe the research techniques used by the author in collecting, analysing and writing life histories of women in the war during Namibia's…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the research techniques used by the author in collecting, analysing and writing life histories of women in the war during Namibia's independence struggle. The interest in recording and writing about these women arose because writing about the independence struggle of Namibia is dominated by men and little has been written about women; the little that is written tends to portray women as victims rather than as independent actors conscious of their decisions and the consequences of such decisions. This history is in danger of being lost if not tapped while these women are still alive.

Design/methodology/approach

A life history approach was followed to appraise the methods used to listening to the women narrating their life stories and to listen to their life stories narrated by those who knew them, worked with them, and shared a prison experience with them. These stories were collected through open interviews followed by more structured interviews with list of open-ended questions with each woman. Life history follows an induction approach, starting with the story and using the stories to create themes and a method or framework guiding the interview recordings, analysing, writing and presentation of the story.

Findings

The stories of the five women led to the demystification of woman as mere victims of repressive regimes and military conflicts. In collecting oral history sources on a subject such as the liberation struggle in a society that was torn apart by a prolonged military conflict, apartheid and repression, a researcher must respect the stories as told, but an extensive verification of the credibility and reliability of the sources may be required. Authenticity is undermined by the fact that the current society glorifies the independence struggle, and everybody wants to be on the side of the winners, even those that fought against liberation have today become its evangelists.

Research limitations/implications

The sources for the paper depend on what the women could still remember and there are no local institutions such as archives and or newspapers to document the events when they happened.

Practical implications

This paper argues the case that publishing women's life stories promotes interests in local history and makes significant impact on the socioeconomic status of women. It further recommends methodological approaches in documenting local histories; dealing with authenticity and integrity in each story.

Social implications

The paper shows that publishing the life stories of five village women in a book with the title Tears of Courage had positive impact on their individual lives; and that publishing such oral accounts is an excellent way to lift the contributions by women out of obscurity into the mainstream of Namibian history.

Originality/value

It is an original paper written from practical research experiences of identifying sources, documenting, interviewing, analysing, writing and constantly cross referencing to verify authenticity and integrity of both written and oral sources.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 October 2019

D. A. Hutchinson and C. L. Clarke

In this chapter, we inquire into our ever-unfolding experiences as teachers and with teacher research participants in order to explore the complexities of curriculum making in…

Abstract

In this chapter, we inquire into our ever-unfolding experiences as teachers and with teacher research participants in order to explore the complexities of curriculum making in teacher education. In doing so, we lay the foundation for understanding narrative inquiry as both theory and method as such, frame our work in this volume. Curriculum making, a term introduced by Joseph Schwab, reflects the dynamic process of learning in which the teacher, learner, subject matter, and milieu interact. Moreover, we think about the ways people make sense of themselves, identity-making, in the process of curriculum making. Through Derek’s experiences with Lee, a previous Grade five student, and Cindy’s work with Jesse, a research participant, we inquire into their curriculum making and identity-making. We argue that in schools, there are multiple curricula in the making, going beyond the formal notions of curriculum as grade-level standards or classroom objectives. In our inquiry process, we consider experiences in schools through Aoki’s understanding of curriculum-as-plan and lived curriculum. In his writing, Aoki noted that the lived experience of curriculum in schools is much more complex and varied than the planned curriculum that is meant for a generalized audience; students and teachers bring their lives with them into particular contexts that indelibly shape the ways that curriculum is lived out. As well, we think about the ways experiences and places shape teachers and researchers and the ways we see the world.

Details

Landscapes, Edges, and Identity-Making
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-598-1

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 November 2019

Osnat Hazan and Tammar B. Zilber

The authors explore self-identity construction as a mechanism of institution­aliz­ation at the individual level. Building on in-depth analysis of life stories of yoga…

Abstract

The authors explore self-identity construction as a mechanism of institution­aliz­ation at the individual level. Building on in-depth analysis of life stories of yoga practitioners who are at different stages of practice, the authors found that as yoga practitioners are more exposed to the yogic institution, yogic meanings gradually infuse their general worldview and self-concept. The authors follow the line of research which focuses on professional identity construction as institutional work, yet, opening the “black box,” the authors argue that institutional meanings take root at the individual level beyond the institutional context and beneath the explicit level of identity.

Details

Microfoundations of Institutions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-123-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2009

Barbara F.H. Allen

The purpose of this paper is to introduce librarians, faculty, and other interested individuals to contemporary German literature in English translation.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce librarians, faculty, and other interested individuals to contemporary German literature in English translation.

Design/methodology/approach

German‐language authors born in 1950 or later and listed on the Contemporary Living Authors Comprehensive List developed by the German vendor Otto Harrassowitz are searched in OCLC's WorldCat database to determine the existence of English translations. A bio‐bibliographical list is then developed featuring all contemporary German‐language authors who have achieved an English language translation of at least one of their literary works.

Findings

Of the approximately 1,400 writers on Harrassowitz's comprehensive list, a surprisingly large number of almost 80 authors of the younger generation (born in 1950 or later) have been translated into English.

Originality/value

This bio‐bibliography of contemporary German belles lettres (of the younger generation) in English translation is the first of its kind. It can be used by librarians to check their current library holdings and to expand their collections of German literature in English translation.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

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