Working through the “Riddle of the Heart”: Perspectives of Women Superintendents

Abstract

Advice from successful women superintendents is useful for other women aspiring to the position or wishing greater success while in the position. The purpose of this non-traditional paper is to share such advice in a way that is useful to those who want or need it. Toward that end, this paper presents the results of a qualitative study that is focused on specific methods for success that were gathered in interviews with women superintendents. Interpretations that cut across the narratives are expressed through the metaphoric framework provided by Carlos Castaneda's (1981, 1987) principles of power that govern the riddle of the heart. Rather than a typical conclusion, the paper ends with the results experienced after practicing the principles governing the riddle of the heart and how these results can be found in the practice of the women superintendents in the study.