Getting to the Heart of Leadership (PDF)

'[This book] contains a wealth of case studies and vignettes to help leaders be more aware of the ways in which emotion impacts on their practice, and to develop a productive and sustainable set of emotional responses, experiences and leadership tools' - Headteacher Update

'This is a highly readable and engaging introduction to both the importance and power of emotions in the life and work of headteachers. While leaders' emotions have been badly neglected in the literature, the rich body of evidence the author shares with readers indicates how central such emotions are to sustaining improvement efforts in schools.' - Professor Ken Leithwood, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Canada

'The affective side of leadership is often forgotten as school heads and leaders strive for excellence and accountability. This extremely important book brings to the forefront the emotional attachments of leadership, the interpersonal relationships, and self-awareness that are at the core of leadership action and decision making. The case stories and reviews of multiple perspectives and theories provide the reader with a rich and essential resource' - Ellen B. Goldring, Professor of Education Policy and Leadership, Vanderbilt University

'...The book is framed to illuminate how headteachers experience, and talk about, emotion and meaning in their daily interactions, and sets out to understand how emotion impacts on their leadership.' (author's introduction)

Understanding the close relationship between leadership and emotion is essential for school leaders in creating, modifying and sustaining the emotional coherence of the whole school. Megan Crawford aims to help school leaders understand why emotion is such a powerful component of leadership.

The author examines how school leaders experience emotion and meaning in their daily interactions, and presents a reflective journey, concentrating on the personal side of school leadership. The author shows how school climate depends on the personal emotional quality of the leader and his/her interface with other social relationships in the school, covering areas such as difficult people and situations, shame, loss and drawing on primary and secondary case studies, school leaders' reflections and the influence of their life history, school context and emotional epiphanies.

This book is for practising educational leaders and managers, tutors and students on Masters courses, EdD courses, and on programmes such as the National Professional Qualification for Headship, its equivalent for Children's centres, and other national programmes in educational leadership and management