Dropping the Mask

Connecting Leadership to Identity

Daphne Y Jefferson

• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781636763224
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Les femmes dans le monde des affaires

The face of leadership is changing - women of color will make up the majority of people in the workforce by 2030.

In Dropping the Mask: Connecting Leadership to Identity, Daphne Jefferson helps leaders navigate the challenges of connecting their unique identities to the way they lead. As a leader, Daphne was often the only woman or woman of color in the room. She didn't feel she had the security to be "open and authentic." She learned that authentic leadership doesn't look like anyone else and began to embrace a leadership style that is an amalgamation of all of her unique experiences. She now wants to help others find the courage to drop the mask and fully embrace their authentic identities.

This book will help you:

• Understand what authenticity means for people of color
• Gain insight into why so many women leaders struggle with confidence
• Learn how leaders can reclaim their true identities by reconciling their inner and outer personas

Dropping the Mask does a wonderful job of incorporating personal stories with in-depth research and statistics. It sheds a light on female leadership, showing how women can be a strong and crucial part of all organizations.

Part One

The Roots of Leadership

Chapter 1

The Journey to Leadership

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

–Arthur Ashe 8

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I decided to explore the history of leadership through the frame of one of my favorite childhood movies, The Wizard of Oz, in hopes of coming up with an easily digestible approach to the question, “What is leadership?”

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical starring the late Judy Garland. She plays Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl who dreams of finding a place “somewhere over the rainbow” for herself and her dog. The film is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s children’s fantasy novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Library of Congress lists The Wizard of Oz as the most seen film in history.9

I remember the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz. As an impressionable kindergartener, I felt like I was on a magical journey with Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, and little Toto, too. I sat on the floor two feet away from the television and cried when the Wizard flew away in the balloon without Dorothy. I thought the poor girl could never go home. I couldn’t watch any more of the movie and went to bed with seeing the ending.

In Search of a Great Man

Literary scholar Joseph Campbell outlines the stages of a hero’s journey in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He writes, “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”10 This description has remained the common format for stories that involve a hero or heroine who goes on an adventure or quest: they face adversity, defeat their foe, and undergo a significant transformation.

The first part of The Wizard of Oz is filmed in black and white; however, once a tornado rips Dorothy’s house from its foundation and deposits it in the world of Oz, colors fill the screen. The plot progresses as follows:

Dorothy’s house lands on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. The witch’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, threatens revenge on Dorothy and her little dog, Toto. Glinda the Good Witch intervenes by giving Dorothy the dead witch’s magical ruby slippers. Since she doesn’t have the power to send Dorothy home, Glinda tells the little girl to find the Wizard of Oz in the Emerald City, as he’s the only one who can help her get back to Kansas. This is the beginning of the hero’s journey for Dorothy Gale.

The hero’s journey to find the meaning of leadership dates back to the mid-1800s, when the prevailing idea viewed leaders as heroic figures. From this idea, Thomas Carlyle coined the Great Man Theory in 1840: leaders are born and not made. He specifically chose the words “great man” because at the time, leadership was viewed as a masculine endeavor.11

I guess Thomas Carlyle forgot about great woman leaders like Cleopatra, Catherine the Great, and Queen Victoria. Marie Curie certainly didn’t let gender stereotypes of the early nineteenth century stand in the way of achieving her goals. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and is the only person—man or woman—to receive two Nobel Prizes in different scientific fields.12 Dr. Curie said, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”13 Dr. Curie used her scientific gifts to establish an oncology hospital for women, proving gender has nothing to do with great leadership.

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Dorothy Gale meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion while traveling along the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City. Each of these companions is on their own personal quest—the Scarecrow to find a brain, the Tin Man to find a heart, and the Cowardly Lion to find courage. On the surface, Dorothy’s goal is to get back to Kansas, but I believe she’s also on her own quest to find the confidence to take charge of her life.

Just like Dorothy and her companions, researchers in the 1930s and 1940s set out to identify the leadership styles needed to be an effective leader. In 1939, psychologist Kurt Lewin’s study of a group of schoolchildren helped define leadership styles for decision-making that we still use today. In Lewin’s study, children were assigned to one of three types of leadership groups: authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire.

Authoritarian leaders provide clear expectations for what, when, and how tasks need to be done. The leader makes the decisions with little to no input from the group. Authoritarian leadership may be appropriate for situations that require quick, decisive action; however, overuse of this style can be controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.

Democratic or participative leaders make decisions, offer guidance, and encourage input from other group members. Even though this type of leader has the final say in decisions, team members feel committed and valued.

Laissez-faire or delegative leaders leave decision-making to the group while offering little to no guidance. This style of leadership may work for a team of highly qualified experts, but it frequently results in role confusion and a lack of personal responsibility.

In this study, researchers observed how each of these three leadership styles affected the children’s behaviors as they completed an arts and crafts project. The researchers found that democratic leadership tended to be the most effective at inspiring followers to perform well.14

Trait Theory: The “Extrovert Ideal”

Dorothy’s band of travelers went off in search of what they believed was lacking in their personalities. The Scarecrow wanted a great intellect, the Tin Man wanted empathy, and The Cowardly Lion wanted courage. They believed these traits would make them great.

People in the early 1900s believed great leaders possessed certain traits that separated them from non-leaders. However, in 1948, Ralph Stogdill surveyed the previous twenty-five years of research. In “Personal Factors Associated with Leadership: A Survey of the Literature,” Stogdill concluded, “A person does not become a leader by virtue of the possession of some combination of traits.”15 This groundbreaking study began a shift away from believing leaders have intrinsic traits or personality characteristics such as charisma and extroversion; instead, one can cultivate desirable leadership qualities. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion would probably add intelligence, empathy, and courage to the list of desirable leadership traits.

Susan Cain, former Wall Street attorney, introvert, and author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, says the “Extrovert Ideal”—“the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight”—dominates Western culture.16 She goes on to say that this view of leadership is based o...