THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF IDENTITY

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. ” ―Winston S. Churchill

It was once said that everything is everything; I cannot separate my civic self from my spiritual self from my creative self. These elements are intrinsically interconnected and wholly reliant upon each other to foster a deeper meaning and understanding of one's purpose in life. 

Through the Sociological lens of Symbolic Interactionism, my approach to leadership is guided by the intersection of identity and its expression through interpersonal relationships and interactions. I have a deep understanding that we will forever unravel the social constructs and agreements rooted in the culture of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.

Raised in the hey day of the New Public Management, I developed the skills and traits most identifiable as “leadership qualities”. Command, decisiveness, determination, ambition, compartmentalization, dominance. Many of these have been difficult agreements to break. Granted, some of these qualities have a place at the table, in varying degrees. But many must be replaced with the so-called soft skills of empathy, kindness, contentment. Rooted in non-violent communication and collaboration. As a lone wolf, these traits do not come easy to me. But that which comes easy has little value.