My Leading While Female Journey
A Guided Reflective Journal
Foreword by Julie A. Vitale
Women leaders explore personal and professional growth through reflection and story
Leading While Female means working with female and male colleagues who are grounded in values for equity to confront and close the gender equity gap. This guided reflection is both a stand-alone book and a companion to the bestselling Leading While Female: A Culturally Proficient Response to Gender Equity.
Combining the first-hand experiences of female leaders with research on feminism, intersectionality, and leadership, Arriaga, Stanley, and Lindsey support readers to explore their personal and professional cultural proficiencies. Readers will find:
- support to identify barriers and formulate methods to overcome them,
- opportunities to record their experiences following a narrative protocol for their Stormy First Draft (SFD), a writing experience derived from nine chapters of guided reflective journal entries,
- leadership stories and figures to provide guidance and illustrate the need for gender equity, and
- opportunities for males who are mentors and allies to dismantle gender bias.
Data show women are doing the work of classroom teaching while disproportionately, men are making leadership decisions. This interactive resource supports women leaders to interrupt current dominant narratives with their own stories of challenges and success.
"When you read or hear a story of triumph over adversity that inspires, it can transform your mood, shift your mindset, and empower you to achieve. Reading My Leading While Female Journey will inspire, transform, shift, and empower you with the courage and strength of amazing women. It will provoke you to own your story."
"The three authors, Arriaga, Stanley, & Lindsey, have assembled the perfect complementary journal to their book Leading While Female. Readers are treated to excerpts, quotes by women, authentic and meaningful stories, and thought-provoking questions. A leader learns through constant reflection on the question 'How would I handle this type of situation?' Reflection at this deep level builds strength and character. This interactive experience provides a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as a female leader. It is a personal journey meant to be undertaken, one supported by both the book and this exceptional journal."
"My Leading While Female Journey: A Guided Reflective Journal is the perfect companion to the book Leading While Female. The journal demonstrates the power of reflection and is ideal for individual rumination or group discussions. The stories reflect the experiences of many female educational leaders and offers robust opportunities for women to connect across differences, harness our bold leadership in community, interrupt inequities in our systems, and propel emerging female leaders into formal positions of leadership. Bravo to Leading While Female!"
"Stacie Stanley, Trudy Arriaga, and Delores Lindsey have expertly crafted a reflective journal to accompany their book, Leading While Female. They have helped to guide us so that through our own stories and the stories of others, we can write new stories; stories of strength and effective leadership.
The thoughtful questions throughout the journal will help each of us as we create the next chapter in our own leadership story and help each of us to consider not only what will ensure that we thrive but also how we can lift others and help them to thrive.
This book is not only a reflective journal, but it is also an instructive tool and a valuable resource. A heartfelt thank you to the Leading While Female authors and other women highlighted in this journal who were willing to share their stories to help all of us."