Middle Leader Identity

Abstract

This chapter explores middle leadership identity through the real-world accounts of how two middle leaders construct and develop their leadership identity and how this impacts the way their middle leadership is practiced. Leadership identity, an internal narrative of oneself as a leader which is practised professionally in context, represents a concept that is best understood as being unique to an individual, enduring over time, and a consequence of human experiences. Middle leadership is often the first promotion for teachers from teacher to leader and, as such, how middle leaders perceive themselves as a leader and how this formative process of leadership identity underpins middle leaders’ practices can make a significant impact on a leader’s decision making, professional relationships, behaviours, and actions. This chapter is co-authored by two researchers and two middle leaders with the intention of understanding middle leader identity development and its influence on middle leadership practices. Using interviews, middle leaders’ stories of identity were co-composed and re-storied to construct each middle leader’s narrative. This chapter concludes with a discussion on the influences of identity for middle leaders and considerations for leadership development.

Citation

Alexeeff, S., Dearing, E., Lipscombe, K. and Tindall-Ford, S. (2024), "Middle Leader Identity", Benson, E., Duignan, P. and Watterston, B. (Ed.) Middle Leadership in Schools: Ideas and Strategies for Navigating the Muddy Waters of Leading from the Middle, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-082-320241001