{"id":29899,"date":"2013-03-29T15:12:34","date_gmt":"2013-03-29T15:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=29899"},"modified":"2013-03-29T15:12:34","modified_gmt":"2013-03-29T15:12:34","slug":"authentic-transformational-leadership-a-phenomenological-study-of-the-experiences-of-blackwhite-biracial-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=29899","title":{"rendered":"Authentic, Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Black\/White Biracial Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authentic, Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Black\/White Biracial Leaders<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

University of Nebraska, Lincoln
\nMay 2013
\n182 pages<\/p>\n

Carmen R. Zafft<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Human Sciences (Leadership Studies)<\/em><\/p>\n

This phenomenological study described the racial identity and leadership experiences of eight community, education, and business Black\/White biracial leaders. Four central themes emerged relating to the participants\u2019 racial identity choices: (a) family discourse, (b) social networks, (c) appearance, and (d) identity work. Three central themes emerged relating to the participants\u2019 leadership experiences: (a) cultural agility: \u201cBlessed to be flexible\u201d, (b) perceived representation: \u201cI look like them\u201d, and (c) transformational leadership: \u201cI lead so others can grow.\u201d Because the participants were conscious of their identity development experience, all demonstrated a strong sense of self which influenced how they experienced leadership. As a result, the essence of experiencing leadership as a biracial leader was to be authentic and transformational.<\/p>\n

Chapter One: Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an interview for CBS news in 2007, Presidential candidate Barack Obama<\/a> was asked, \u201cHow important is race in defining yourself?\u201d to which he responded, “I am rooted in the African-American community, but I’m not defined by it. I am comfortable in my racial identity, but that’s not all I am\u201d (Kroft, 2007). Historically, a presidential candidate\u2019s racial identity has not to this degree been questioned. This question was due, in part, to his identification as a Black American yet his racial lineage consists of a White, Midwest-American mother and a Black, Kenyan father. Walters (2007) brought attention to the conflict surrounding President Obama\u2019s racial and cultural heritage:<\/p>\n

He appeared to be of African descent, but the cultural markers to which traditional American Blacks were exposed presented him as someone born of a White American mother and a Kenyan father and raised in Hawaii. Also, the fact that he had lived for a while in Indonesia complicated the matter further. In short, his identity omitted many of the cultural markers with which Blacks are more familiar to the extent that it has promoted a curiosity of \u2018cultural fit\u2019 that in turn has become an issue of political trust. (p. 13)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These \u201ccultural markers\u201d influence how Black Americans make sense of and fit in the world around them. Essentially, these markers have traditionally defined Blackness in America. Though Obama identified as a Black American, his racial heritage and social influences did not fit the cultural markers typical of a Black American male leader. This caused voters, Black and White, to question whose interests Barack Obama was committed to and if they could follow him. For these reasons, Obama\u2019s racial lineage, his cultural influences, his racial identification, and his post-racial rhetoric communicated a welcomed, albeit \u201cmixed message\u201d to the American public.<\/p>\n

Despite this mixed message, President Obama\u2019s election signified substantial racial gains for African Americans. Of equal significance is the special attention his biracial parentage brings to this growing population. His election led me to consider how a biracial leaders\u2019 racial identity influences their leadership experiences.<\/p>\n

The purpose<\/em> of this phenomenological study is to describe how biracial leaders identify racially and how they experience leadership. Biracial leaders are defined as an individual with a Black biological parent and a White biological parent who exercises leadership in an organization or group…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the entire dissertation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authentic, Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Black\/White Biracial Leaders University of Nebraska, Lincoln May 2013 182 pages Carmen R. Zafft Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Human Sciences (Leadership Studies) This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[838,125,8,394,20],"tags":[14204,14205,6097],"class_list":["post-29899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dissertations","category-identitydevelopment","category-media-archive","category-socialscience","category-usa","tag-carmen-r-zafft","tag-carmen-zafft","tag-university-of-nebraska"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}