CCCU Aurorans met to reflect, writes Kerry Jordan-Daus.

Provoked, supported and challenged by Dr Jane Lewis, we reflected on our own leadership. Whether you are a Queen, a Mother, a Warrior, a Lover, or a Sorceress (www.oneofmany.co.uk), my take away from the Aurora Reflection event at Canterbury Christ Church University on the 19^th April was about knowing yourself as a leader.

Being leaderful is an intentional act; how one acts as a leader gives a message to others. It tells others about your values and core beliefs. As a leader I make choices; based on the evidence, based on knowledge, based on experience and based on intuition, but most importantly based on my core belief in dignity and respect for individuals regardless of their gender, their ethnicity, their sexual orientation or their class.

Leadership is complex and requires a complex set of skills. Being too “queeny” could give a message of aloofness. Being too “motherly”, controlling; being too “warrior” might be intimidating; being too “lovely”, might be too frivolous; and being too “sorceress”, too unpredictable. Therefore, how do we get that perfect fit, get the absolute right balance of behaviours to be right, to be the best leader we can be? Not by trying to be superwoman.

Firstly, perhaps to accept that being the perfect leader is not the right way to go; aspiring to be the best I can, to learn, to accept that leadership is complex and challenging, and that there is not always a right answer. I will be the best I can and that is more than good enough.

Secondly, to be honest about one’s own capacities. Why do women leaders suffer more burn out? Because we try too hard to be perfect? Because we put too much pressure on ourselves? Because to be successful in a world which is shaped by a masculine leadership paradigm, women have to man up to be successful by the rules of this game. We copy those behaviours which have become normalised and legitimised in our leadership spaces, aggressiveness, assertiveness and autonomy (Fitzgerald, 2014). We are criticised because we are too “soft” and criticised if we are too “hard”, like more and different is expected from women leaders? We are doomed if we do and doomed if we don’t.

In this context it is perhaps not surprising that less than 30% of top leadership roles are held by women. Of course, there are a multiplicity of reasons for this. But we can reclaim and celebrate the space for authentic leadership (Klenke, 2007). Let’s move forward and take ownership of the leadership spaces that we occupy.  Let us change the rules of this game. Let us also not pretend that these barriers don’t exist. Let’s not be apologetic or guilty, and not feel guilty because we are too apologetic. Let us acknowledge that many women feel this way, but we are not to blame.

Calling out all of this can feel scary. Who likes a mouthy woman? But here we go again. I am not being mouthy, I am not being difficult, I am not being a killjoy (Ahmed, 2017). By raising the problem I won’t become the problem. By raising a problem others may feel uncomfortable but that is not my problem. There is a problem. Aurora is about giving us the leadership self-belief and the leadership skills to address this problem. My takeaway from Jane is now how might I use my “Queen” leadership skills more!

Kerry Jordan-Daus

About the Author:

Kerry is an Aurora Coach at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is the University’s Athena Swan Champion, Chair of the Faculty of Education’s School of Childhood Studies and Education Sciences Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team and is the Faculty of Education Equality and Diversity Lead. Kerry is a member of the University’s Women’s Network and is currently completing her Doctorate on Women’s Leadership in Higher Education.

About the Aurora Programme:

The Aurora programme is a flagship women-only leadership development programme led by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (now Advance HE). Canterbury Christ Church University has been participating since its inception in 2013, and has now developed a strong network of participants and mentors, known as Aurorans.

References:

Ahmed S (2017) Living Life as a Feminist Duke University Press: London

Fitzgerald T (2014) Women Leaders in Higher Education; Shattering the Myths Routledge:London

Klenke K (2007) Authentic Leadership: A Self, Leader and Spiritual Identity Perspective in International Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol 3, Issue 1, pp 68-97.

Martin J PowerTypes™ ‘One of Many’™ http://www.oneofmany.co.uk/