“Who Am I?” Exploring Leader Identity Low Point Narratives for College Student Leadership Development

Abstract

Leader identity development (LID) is an essential component of leadership development in meaning-making processes. Previous study of LID focused on positive leadership experiences. The current study explored stories of leader identity low points (i.e., negative leadership experiences) of 26 college students at four large institutions across the United States. A multimethod data collection process studied narrative thematic analysis and emotion coding. Results revealed that participants’ LID low points occurred during times of transition, rejection, toxic leaders and environments, or self-worth struggles, including low points of sadness, embarrassment, and anxiety. When participants made meaning of low points through support networks and reflection, they experienced coherent positive resolution, reframing the low point as a period of growth. The current study emphasizes the essentiality of studying and discussing negative leadership experiences among college students, centering emotions in student leadership development theory and practice, encouraging the development of coherent authors following LID low points, and arguing for support networks as having a social buffering effect for challenging experiences.