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Handbook of Race-Ethnicity and Gender in Psychology pp 271–293Cite as

Leading with Our Whole Selves: A Multiple Identity Approach to Leadership Development

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Abstract

How does identity influence and shape leadership development? To effectively address this question, we need to answer a more fundamental question, namely, how do we conceive of identity? We have a tendency to view identity in singular terms: I am a white person, I am a woman, or I am Asian. However, identity is more accurately conceived in multiple terms: I am a Muslim biologist of color. Capturing the role of these multiple identities in leadership development is a more complex undertaking, but not to do so risks oversimplifying the inherently multiple character of identity and not fully understanding leadership effectiveness.

“I am large… I contain multitudes.” Song of Myself, Walt Whitman

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On this conundrum, see Eagly and Carli (2007) and Stone (2007).

  2. 2.

    See Marshak (2006) on covert processes in organizations.

  3. 3.

    See also Baxter-Magolda (2004, 2009) and Kegan (1982).

  4. 4.

    See, for example, Ely and Meyerson (2010) for the case of oil rig workers.

  5. 5.

    Helms (1995) model drew upon the minority identity model of Atkinson, Morten, and Sue (1989) and the psychological “negriscence” model of Cross (1971).

  6. 6.

    See Meehan (2007), Tanton (1992), and Tidball (1973) regarding this problem in relation to girls and women. Grant (1984) looked at the case of black girls.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Gelaye Debebe

  2. School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    Kenneth A. Reinert

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  1. Gelaye Debebe
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  2. Kenneth A. Reinert
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Correspondence to Gelaye Debebe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University Teachers College, New York, USA

    Marie L. Miville

  2. Department of Human Development and Psyc, Howard University, Washington, USA

    Angela D. Ferguson

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Debebe, G., Reinert, K.A. (2014). Leading with Our Whole Selves: A Multiple Identity Approach to Leadership Development. In: Miville, M., Ferguson, A. (eds) Handbook of Race-Ethnicity and Gender in Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8860-6_12

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