Fictional narratives can reflect social and cultural beliefs portrayed in mythic and archetypal material (Rowland, 2010b, 2012a Sonik, 2008). Because I was not invited to participate in a leadership development role to change disempowering norms, I decided to participate indirectly through imaginative, metaphoric processes. As a woman, I often experienced myself as an other with men, even in collaborative leadership. I am responding to the problem that “other” individuals and groups may be excluded from or marginalized in direct leadership development roles.
This is an indirect approach to leadership development. I wrote a novel to explore how one might present new leadership myths to change leadership conventions. Research has shown that readers of fiction might change beliefs and behaviors when they “experience” empathic connection with fictive characters (Kaufman & Libby, 2012). Fictive texts allow readers to see inside the characters and experience their reality with empathy, making fiction a potential initiator for change. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an indirect, metaphoric approach to leadership development for social change.
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