Principles of Power: Women Superintendents and the Riddle of the Heart

by Brunner, C. Cryss

• ISBN13: 9780791445709
• ISBN10: 0791445704
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Women who seek to be school superintendents or who want to improve their chances for success in the superintendency can clearly benefit from the insights and cultural wisdom of women who have attained the position. Principles of Power shares perspectives from twelve successful women superintendents and puts them in a cultural context that highlights what they can teach us about their methods for success.

To illustrate the underlying behaviors that helped them succeed, Brunner uses as a framework the system of beliefs gathered by Carlos Castaneda from Yaqui Indian warrior training. Castaneda calls this system the "riddle of the heart". To understand the riddle of the heart, women must be able to simultaneously comprehend and use two different perceptions of the world: that which is and that which is becoming. To be able to solve the riddle, warriors develop mind set and a discipline that allow them to get the best out of any conceivable situation.

Author Biography

C. Cryss Brunner is Assistant Professor of Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Charol Shakeshaft
Acknowledgments	xvii
Part One Mystery: Intangible Insights
Mystery and Metaphor: Introduction to Part 1	3	(6)
Raymond M. Olderman
Gathering Intangible Data: The Women Superintendents and the Assembly	9	(8)
Embodying Intangible Data: The Women as Warriors	17	(10)
Part Two Metaphor: Articulating Intangibles
The Warrior's Path: The Riddle of the Heart and the Seven Principles of Power	27	(12)
Principle One: Knowing the Battleground	39	(20)
Principle Two: Discarding the Unnecessary	59	(16)
Principle Three: Choosing Battles	75	(8)
Principle Four: Taking Risks	83	(18)
Principle Five: Seeking Retreat	101	(12)
Principle Six: Compressing Time	113	(20)
Principle Seven: Exercising Power	133	(22)
Part Three Motion: Intangibles in Action
Impeccable Practice: Three Results	155	(4)
First Result: Laughing at Self	159	(8)
Second Result: Patience Without Fretting	167	(8)
Third Result: Improvisation	175	(6)
Castaneda and Me	181	(2)
About the Author	183	(2)
Notes	185	(2)
References	187	(12)
Index	199