Safe and encouraging home providing the countdown to leadership? Finnish female leaders' childhood memories

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to dissect the connection between childhood homes and leadership. The study forms a part of a larger study on Finnish female leaders and their life paths. The following research question was set for this study: how did Finnish female leaders describe their childhood and home environment? It was studied through two specifying questions: what were the most significant features of the childhood home according to the female leaders' descriptions and what were the most important advice and tenets of the childhood home according to the female leaders' descriptions? This was a qualitative study in which 10 Finnish female leaders were interviewed in two phases in 2006 and 2011. Safety appeared the most significant feature of the female leaders' childhood homes. The safe atmosphere was created through mutual affection and care and through an open relationship between the home and the community. The most important tenets and advice learned from the childhood home were the values of fair play, culture of encouragement, and positive attitude to work. Based on the findings, the childhood homes formed a good starting point and foundation for the development of the women into leaders.

Keywords:

• leadership
• female leaders
• narrative research
• childhood
• childhood home

Notes on contributors

Sanna Hyvärinen works as a classroom teacher and is a phd-student at the University of Lapland. Her personal research interests are in leadership, female leadership, and success in the contexts of upbringing, education, and professional expertise.Satu Uusiautti (PhD) works in a research project “Love-based Leadership – An Interdisciplinary Approach” (http://www.ulapland.fi/lbleadership) at the University of Lapland, Finland, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her personal research interests are in positive psychology and human strengths, happiness, success, and well-being especially in diverse educational and workplace contexts.