My leadership practice during the transition of policy responsibilities from the Welsh Office to the National Assembly for Wales

• Main Author: Barry, Norma
• Published: University of South Wales 2008
• Subjects: 158.7
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.494058

This research is concerned with my personal leadership practice in the former Welsh Office and latterly the National Assembly for Wales. It has been a sociological study, critically exploring my leadership practice during a period of intense change. The study provides an auto-ethnographic account of my leadership practice through four discrete projects. My practice in relation to these projects was analysed through relevant action research methodologies, which involved reflection and reflexivity, together with a conceptual framework covering personal leadership and change, gender, identity and, power and psycho-dynamics. The analysis was informed by a comprehensive literature review of the key texts on leadership, gender, identity, power, and organisational psycho-dynamics. As the researcher and the researched, I attempted to understand how my personal characteristics and life experiences governed my actions and behaviours, the impact of my gender on my practice, the construction of personal and collective identities and the use of power and authority within the organisation. The overall aim was to contribute to leadership theories about the practice of women leaders and to improve my practice through this understanding. The theory that has emerged is that of accommodating leadership on the basis that to exercise effective leadership it is necessary to be accommodating of your personal, inherent traits, and learnt behaviours and those with whom you interact, whilst engendering a culture that encourages the practice of accommodation. The findings contribute to knowledge in the areas of leadership, change and learning, identity and power and psycho-dynamics in a public sector organisation from a feminist perspective on both personal and organisational levels.