African American Women Executives’ Leadership Communication within Dominant-Culture Organizations

Abstract

This research examined African American women executives’ leadership communication within majority White, male-dominated organizations in the United States. Study participants were 15 African American women executives, one or more of their subordinates, and, in four cases, their supervisors. Analyses of in-depth interviews, observations, and archival data revealed five themes related to the executives’ leadership communication that challenge views of women as master collaborators who shun control-oriented leadership. From participants’ perspectives, collaboration is worked out at the intersections of control and empowerment, where control is (re)defined as interactive and personal rather than as competitive and distant, and is viewed as a necessary strategy for managing their positions as Black women leaders within dominant-culture organizations. Implications of this study for leadership theory, research, and practice are offered.

Negotiating Power Paradoxes: Contradictions in Women's Constructions of Organizational Power

“…This finding extends previous studies that suggest individuals construct and experience power differently than men (Dougherty, 2001a;Fine, 1993;Marshall, 1993;Parker, 2001). The data reveal a single participant's descriptions and articulated experiences of power varied across context even within the same interview.…”

“…The literature suggests women experience organizational power differently than men (Doughty, 2001a;Fine, 1993;Marshall, 1993;Parker, 2001). However, evidence from this study also suggests women describe power differently according to the context.…”

“…According to research, women conceptualize power as a relationally negotiated experience (i.e., power with) as opposed to the hierarchy and domination described by their male counterparts (Dougherty, 2001a;Fine, 1993;Marshall, 1993;Parker, 2001). Marshall notes that men tend to value both boundaries and hierarchy while women, on the other hand, tend to value networking and more personalized, flowing communities.…”

“…Feminist standpoint theory suggests women experience organizing differently than men (Allen, 1996;Bullis & Stout, 2000;Dougherty & Krone, 2000) and thus also experience organizational power in unique ways (Dougherty, 2001a;Fine, 1993;Marshall, 1993;Parker, 2001). We know that women actively seek strategies for negotiating gendered organizational tensions (Putnam & Bochantin, 2009) and ultimately develop a variety of strategies for negotiating organizational tensions (Martin, 2004;Putnam, 2004;Tracy, 2004).…”

Barack Obama as the Great Man: Communicative Constructions of Racial Transcendence in White-Male Elite Discourses

“…In advancing leadership theory to consider factors beyond the leader, many contemporary scholars view leadership as enacted by all people, including followers, who promote collective forms of thought and action (Garner & Poole, 2009;O'Toole, 2001;Parker, 2001). These scholars posit that leader and subordinate roles are mutually confirmed through expectations of behaviors that contribute to the group (Stogdill & Bass, 1981).…”