Telling Their Own Stories: Using Narratives to Teach Women's Leadership

Abstract

The content and methods of leadership training can vary widely. For union members, such training generally builds skills such as bargaining and public speaking, provides education about current topics, and enables a self-assessment of leadership style. Often, however, participants in leadership workshops want to know, "Where do I go from here? " I have been using a storytelling approach to help union women answer that question. The stories help women to recognize what they have accomplished thus far and to explore what can help them advance on the road to leadership.