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Symbolism and Presidential Perceptions of Leadership
- The Review of Higher Education
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 12, Number 2, Winter 1989
- pp. 153-166
- 10.1353/rhe.1989.0027
- Article
- Additional Information
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This paper seeks to shed light on the discussion of leadership in higher education by focusing on its symbolic dimensions. The author considers leadership from the perspective of post-secondary organizations as socially constructed and subjective entities, then examines six symbolic categories used by presidents: metaphorical, physical, communicative, structural, personification, and ideational. The author concludes with a discussion of the implications for administrators of understanding the symbolism of their leadership.