The Wounded Leader: How Real Leadership Emerges in Times of Crisis

As any school principal or adminstrator can tell you, theresponsibilities of school leadership can take a person frominspired moments to crisis in an instant. How does a school leaderwith good intentions preserve a healthy sense of self in the faceof a crisis which in the best of times challenges the self, and inthe worst of times can lead to deep wounds of the heart? How cangood leaders minimize the impact of these crises and remain open tolearn and grow from these difficult experiences? These are thequestions at the heart of the stories contained in The WoundedLeader.

Through compelling stories that illustrate many of the commondilemmas faced by school leaders, the authors highlight the manypaths to healing, and show how sometimes the most painfulexperience can be an opportunity for growth.

"All leaders incur wounds. The Wounded Leader enables us tounderstand our wounds, learn from them....and begin to heal." -Roland Barth, Founder of Harvard Principals' Center

"Not only is the book full of fresh ideas and new insights but itis a fun read. It is not the usual leadership book that reads muchlike the other leadership books but stands out as an originalcontribution...easily presented and scholarly without beingpretentious." - Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Center for EducationalLeadership at Trinity College, San Antonio, Texas

Richard H. Ackerman is codirector of the International Network ofPrincipals' Centers and professor of education at the University ofMassachusetts Lowell.

Pat Maslin-Ostrowski is associate professor of educationalleadership at Florida Atlantic University.