Karen Dawson

Leadership from the File Room to the Board Room Karen Dawson

In this qualitative study, I explored the influences of an 18-month long leadership development program offered within a large, public service organization on the professional and personal lives of graduates. Researching from a social constructionist stance, I chose to use situational analysis, a variation of grounded theory methodology, to frame the study. The resultant theorizing indicated that although the influences of the program vary widely, the Leadership Development Program created a safe space in which participants engaged in conversations that stretched and challenged their thinking and feeling about themselves, their relationships, and their performance of leadership. Research participants reported that they show up in life and at work differently as a result of the program experience, and that they have new language with which to talk about leadership in their personal and professional lives. This book shares my research story.