A Woman’s Perspective on Leadership in K-12 Education

This qualitative research is the outcome of an interview with a woman on her experiences as a K-12 leader and her perspective of cultural differences and women leadership. The overall viewpoint of leadership was on a leader’s ability to be transformative. Transformational leadership in this context referred to a leaders’ ability to capitalize on the differences within a multicultural society, societal changes, and social justice. Northouse (2010) in the opening chapter of his book on leadership, Leadership; Theory and Practice; 5th Edition, speaks of how leadership has become conceptualized. One such concept is that transformational leadership is a process that motivates followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected. However, for leadership to be transformational it must reflect cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is defined as an individual’s capability to function effectively across cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, and organizations, as well as other types of culture (Van Dyne, Ang, and Livermore, 2010).