ABSTRACT
A phenomenological research approach provides a way to explore taken-for-granted meanings and shared understandings of a phenomenon, such as relationships, that are integral to our everyday experiences. The aim of phenomenological research is to establish a renewed contact with our original, everyday experience, prior to theorizing about it, and to bring to 'light the meanings woven into the fabric' of the experience. Relationships have a longevity that goes beyond our immediate existence. It is as if relationships have an enduring quality. Implications are apparent for understanding the relational nature of leadership, teaching and education more generally. The findings of the phenomenological research on the nature of relationships influence about the formation and practice of leaders within uncertain organizational cultures. Relationships are integral to being human, and yet the nature of particular relationships and our way-of-relating can be taken for granted. Moreover, the very nature of leadership and organizational cultures are expressed and experienced relationally.
