Individual Perceptions of Successful Leadership : An Intersectional Feminist Perspective

Sammanfattning: I analysed individual perceptions of successful leadership, from a feminist intersectional persepctive. The study is based on previous research undertaken by Chamorro-Premuzic (2019), where successful leadership has been argued to be based on embodying the characteristics of ‘confidence’, ‘competence’, and ‘emotional intelligence’. This study also investigated whether comprehensions of successful leadership are gendered, and, if so, if the gendered perceptions may be related to the social organisation of care. Furthermore, as gender is always racialised and race is always gendered, this study takes an intersectional approach, analysing perceptions of successful leadership as both racialised and gendered. Based on this, I undertook a case study analysing the words of 11 women in the United States, in order to compare the perspectives of what successful leadership entails for certain individuals in particular, to general perceptions on successful leadership, as well across identity locations. By emphasising individual perspectives on successful leadership, this study allowed for an investigation into gendered and racialised notions regarding successful leadership.