ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the first leadership transformation produced by the Women’s Leadership Series (WLS), from hidden to visible leadership. It shows that the WLS fostered greater leadership effectiveness through this transformation by affecting a shift in a habitual, self-diminishing and context-amplifying pattern of thinking that was at the root of hiding behavior. Twenty-two percent of the WLS interviewees told stories about the transformation from hidden to visible leadership. Critical learning experiences within the WLS led hidden leaders to gain insight into their habitual thought processes and to examine and challenge their assumptions. Hidden leaders described employing several means to build upon the transformative insights from the WLS after returning to work. The depth of learning that took place in the interactions helped to build long-lasting bonds that continued to foster learning and change long after the WLS was over. Critical insights from the WLS brought hidden leaders’ attention to their habitual patterns.
