Paper presented at Rethinking Leadership: New Directions in the Learning and Skills Sector. 27th - 29th June 2005, Lancaster University, UK. Storytelling and Design: the problem of leadership Simon Kelly 1 , Marian Iszatt White 1 , John Rooksby 2 and Mark Rouncefield 2 Centre for Excellence in Leadership, Lancaster University 1 Computing Department, Lancaster University 2 s.kelly@lancaster.ac.uk , m.iszattwhite@lancaster.ac.uk , rooksby@comp.lancs.ac.uk , m.rouncefield@lancaster.ac.uk ABSTRACT “Stories provide a good first pass at what is important, from the point of view of the users; they provide the designer with a glimpse of what the user’s terrain feels like, and thus provide a starting point for further exploration.” (Erickson, 1996: 3) This paper treats leadership essentially as a design problem. Taking Thomas Erickson’s study of the design of software for information systems as a somewhat unorthodox starting point we ask whether the production, telling and re-telling of stories can be used as a resource for making a ‘good first pass’ at what is important to those who are faced with the challenges of leadership in the UK learning and skills sector. Drawing upon a series of ethnographic studies of leadership in further education, we analyse the different ways in which everyday practices are made ‘storyable’ by participants and how different stories and storytelling practices are ‘occasioned’ through the practical accomplishment of everyday leadership work. In doing so we reflect on the extent to which the documenting and analysis of storytelling practices may provide 'teachable moments' through which to inform programmes of leadership development and create links between leadership training, research and everyday practice. Keywords Further Education, ethnography, leadership, stories, storytelling, teachable moments INTRODUCTION Imagine the [leadership] styles, then, as the array of clubs in a golf pro’s bag. Over the course of a game, the pro picks and chooses clubs based on the demands of the shot. Sometimes he has to ponder his selection, but usually it is automatic. The pro senses the challenge ahead, swiftly pulls out the right tool, and elegantly puts it to work. That’s how high-impact leaders operate too. (Goleman, 2000: 80) This quote is taken from Daniel Goleman’s influential work on leadership styles and emotional intelligence (Goleman, 2000: 80). In this article Goleman puts forward six leadership styles that capture the essential ‘tools’ of leadership. Accompanying each style is a story of how such tools can be put into practice. So we have the CEO of a computer company illustrating coercive leadership; the vice president of a large food retailer demonstrating authoritative leadership; and a host of other characters (including a nun managing organizational change in a Catholic church) who each embody affiliative, democractic, pacesetting, and coaching styles of leadership in action. In short, what Goleman provides throughout his article is a series of short stories that seeks to capture something of what it is like to be a leader. This includes the story quoted above which itself is designed to impart a inspiring image of the leader as a golf pro able to select instinctively from an array of tools which can be elegantly put to work. Such images are certainly attractive, which is perhaps why Goleman’s work in particular informs many programmes of management and leadership development, but the question we ask throughout this paper is how useful are such stories for the training and developing leaders in the UK post-compulsory sector? Is doing leadership in this sector like playing golf? Can the 1