{"id":297,"date":"2018-05-08T14:21:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T13:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/?p=297"},"modified":"2018-05-08T14:24:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T13:24:50","slug":"being-a-bit-more-queeny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/staffdevelopment\/being-a-bit-more-queeny\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a bit more Queeny"},"content":{"rendered":"

CCCU Aurorans met to reflect, writes Kerry Jordan-Daus.<\/em><\/p>\n

Provoked, supported and challenged by Dr Jane Lewis, we reflected on our own leadership. Whether you are a Queen, a Mother,\u00a0a Warrior, a Lover, or a Sorceress (www.oneofmany.co.uk<\/a>), my take away<\/u><\/strong> from the Aurora Reflection event at Canterbury Christ Church University on the 19th<\/sup> April was about knowing yourself as a leader.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Leadership is complex and requires a complex set of skills. Being too \u201cqueeny\u201d could give a message of aloofness. Being too \u201cmotherly\u201d, controlling; being too \u201cwarrior\u201d might be intimidating; being too \u201clovely\u201d, might be too frivolous; and being too \u201csorceress\u201d, 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.<\/u><\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Secondly, to be honest about one\u2019s 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 \u201csoft\u201d and criticised if we are too \u201chard\u201d, like more and different is expected from women leaders?\u00a0We are doomed if we do and doomed if we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In this context it is perhaps not surprising that less than 30% of top leadership roles are\u00a0held 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\u2019s move forward and take ownership of the leadership spaces that we occupy.\u00a0 Let us change the rules of this game. Let us also not pretend that these barriers don\u2019t exist. Let\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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 \u201cQueen\u201d leadership skills more!<\/p>\n

Kerry Jordan-Daus<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Kerry is an Aurora Coach at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is the University\u2019s Athena Swan Champion, Chair of the Faculty of Education\u2019s School of Childhood Studies and Education Sciences Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team and\u00a0is the Faculty of Education Equality and Diversity Lead. Kerry is a member of the University\u2019s Women\u2019s Network and is currently completing her Doctorate on Women\u2019s Leadership in Higher Education.<\/p>\n

About the Aurora Programme:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Aurora programme is a flagship women-only leadership development\u00a0programme 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.<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ahmed S (2017) Living Life as a Feminist<\/em> Duke University Press: London<\/p>\n

Fitzgerald T (2014) Women Leaders in Higher Education; Shattering the Myths<\/em> Routledge:London<\/p>\n

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

Martin J PowerTypes\u2122 \u2018One of Many\u2019\u2122 http:\/\/www.oneofmany.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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