| This study explored the relationship between leadership storytelling and the development of an open climate (a culture characterized by cooperation, respect, communication flow, receptiveness, support, and genuine interactions) in eight schools. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) was distributed to member schools of the Old Dominion Association of Church Schools. Interviews were then conducted with the principals and representative faculty of the eight schools that responded to the survey to ascertain the principal's stories and storytelling behaviors. Each of the principals involved in the study claimed to use story as a didactic tool, but only one of the principals proved to use storytelling effectively as a leadership practice. This school also showed the most open climate as measured by the OCDQ. A second school in the sample showed high openness. Ameliorating factors, such as extra-professional relationships among the faculty, explain this observation. The other six schools showed normal or lower-than-normal levels of openness. The study found storytelling to be the leadership practice of the principal of one open-climate school. This principal's skill is definable, his skill can be parsed, and the identifiable components of his skill can be transferred to other schools. |
