ABSTRACT

Developing a leader identity is not an individual pursuit; it is an ongoing social-relational process that takes a team of people and relationships to provide both support and challenge along the way. Given the additional challenges for women seeking to establish a leader identity, women in particular need to be proactive in crafting a team that meets their personalized leader identity development needs. This chapter first integrates relevant literature in the areas of leader identity, women and leadership, creating and managing effective teams, and mentoring and sponsorship, and then builds upon this coalescence with application to specific issues that may arise for women as they work to grow a leader identity. With the aim of promoting women’s agency in their leader identity development journeys, this chapter provides practical insights and strategies grounded in a scholarly foundation that can enhance women’s ability to build and optimize the impact of their own leader identity development team.