Capturing the Promise of Collaborative Leadership and Becoming a Pluralistic Leader: Using case Stories to Transform Beliefs

Abstract

Metropolitan leaders need to respond to and embrace the diversity within the community, students, staff, faculty, and administration. Developing skills as a pluralistic leader is critical for urban leaders of the twenty-first century. Three principles can facilitate the development of pluralistic leaders: ( 1) an awareness of how identity and power impact leadership beliefs; (2) an acknowledgment of multiple interpretations of institutional leadership and personal philosophies of leadership; and, ( 3) an opportunity for negotiation among multiple interpretations of institutional leadership and personal philosophies of leadership. This article illustrates the way case stories can be used as a professional development tool for promoting collaborative leadership and creating pluralistic leaders.