The journal data were analyzed
in relation to the self-reported accomplishments in the
authors’ diverse administrative roles in order to identify
implicit definitions of successful leadership and to
understand better the factors to which they attribute
their success. The resultant perceptions and attributions
cohered around themes that are described below. This
patterning is believed to be partially due to gender,
both the gendered socialization of each author and the
gendered expectations others have of them in their roles,
acknowledging that gender interacts with ethnicity and other statuses to pattern leadership styles and
experiences. Given that the authors are white females,
however, the findings in the narratives are likely to be
less generalizable to women of color (Davis, 1994;
Jarvey & Anderson, 2005; Turner, 2007; Wilson, 1989).