Table Of ContentTHE INTERIOR LIVES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERS:
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LAY LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO
MISSION AND IDENTITY AT A CATHOLIC, MARIANIST UNIVERSITY
Dissertation
Submitted to
The School of Education and Health Sciences of the
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership
By
Savio Dennis Franco, M.B.A., M.S., Dip TD.
Dayton, Ohio
May 2016
THE INTERIOR LIVES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERS:
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LAY LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO
MISSION AND IDENTITY AT A CATHOLIC, MARIANIST UNIVERSITY
Name: Franco, Savio Dennis
APPROVED BY:
________________________________________
Molly A. Schaller, Ph.D.
Committee Chair
________________________________________
Carolyn S. Ridenour, Ed.D.
Committee Member
________________________________________
Joseph L. Watras, Ph.D.
Committee Member
________________________________________
Fr. David J. Fleming, S.M., Ph.D.
Committee Member
________________________________________
Kevin R. Kelly, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Education and Health Sciences
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© Copyright by
Savio Dennis Franco
All rights reserved
2016
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ABSTRACT
THE INTERIOR LIVES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERS:
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LAY LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO
MISSION AND IDENTITY AT A CATHOLIC, MARIANIST UNIVERSITY
Name: Franco, Savio Dennis
University of Dayton
Advisor: Dr. Molly A. Schaller
This study demonstrates the value of organization-specific articulations of
exemplary leadership. The research topic relates to leadership and organizational studies
in general, and higher educational leadership and organizational commitment in
particular. The focus of inquiry is the complex, human-organizational phenomenon of
exemplary leadership commitment to mission and identity among lay leaders in the
Catholic and Marianist tradition of one top-tier research university in the United States.
The context of inquiry is the emerging prominence and critical role of lay leadership in
Catholic higher education. The researcher offers an in-depth examination of how
exemplary lay leaders experience and practice their personal commitment to Catholic-
Marianist mission and identity. The research objective is to understand and describe the
essential meanings in the lived experiences of exemplary lay leaders, presenting
individual descriptions and collective syntheses of the phenomenon in focus. The
intended audience includes leaders in Marianist and Catholic higher education;
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administrators involved in leadership development and mission and identity
enculturation; and researchers in higher education, phenomenology, and interdisciplinary
studies in leadership and organizational behavior.
Using the transcendental phenomenological research method, the researcher
generates eight individual “portraits-in-words,” containing multilayered human portrayals
that allow the reader to intuit and empathize with the interior experiences and meaning
making of the exemplary lay leaders in this study. The researcher also analyzes the
experiential data collectively, presenting numerous “composite syntheses” of the apparent
textures and underlying structures of the phenomenon in focus. Finally, the researcher
describes three “streams” within the lived experience of the phenomenon, namely:
exemplary lay commitment, exemplary Marianist leadership, and the experience of
Catholic and Marianist mission and identity, concluding with a brief “statement of
essence” containing essential meanings that do not vary across the descriptions of
exemplary lay leaders.
This study contributes to the narrative of Catholic and Marianist higher education
by empirically investigating the interior lives of exemplary leaders, articulating a
phenomenology of exemplary lay leadership commitment to mission and identity, and
drawing insights from the lived experiences of present-day exemplary leaders in order to
inform future leadership practice, development, and research. The future of mission and
identity in Catholic and Marianist higher education hinges on one critical factor – the
ongoing presence of the interior phenomenon of exemplary lay leadership commitment to
mission and identity. This study sheds a bright light on this noteworthy and necessary
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phenomenon – sine qua non (without which nothing) – thus preserving its legacy in
institutional memory, and offering “seeds” for reflection, conversation, and action.
Key terms: phenomenology, interior life, exemplary leadership, lay leaders,
commitment, mission and identity, Catholic, Marianist, university, higher education,
interdisciplinary studies, organizational behavior, educational philosophy, leadership
ethics, organization-specific articulations of exemplary leadership.
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With Hazel
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I was able to undertake this project because of the support of my family, and most
of all, my wife, Hazel, who shared this journey with me, and endured much through its
process. I share this dissertation and doctoral degree with her. I am blessed by my
parents, Matilda and Eusebio Franco, who always supported me in the pursuits I chose to
undertake. I am also strengthened by my sister and brother, Cleo and Alrio, who give me
hope, and whose happiness is my joy. I am grateful to Hazel’s parents, Bertille and
Rufino Rodrigues, and brother Ignatius, for their prayerful support. I affectionately
remember our grandparents who are undoubtedly watching over us. I am what I am
today, in great measure, because of my mother – who showed me what it means to love
unconditionally; and I thank her for this.
I am immensely grateful to my academic advisor, Dr. Molly Schaller, who
believed in me steadfastly, and whom I am proud to call my mentor and friend. Her
brilliant guidance and ongoing affirmation gave me the strength to persevere and hope
through many difficult periods. I would not have been able to complete this project
without her unwavering faith in its value and remarkable selflessness as an educator. If
you read this work and are benefited by it, I request you to breathe a prayer for her.
I am especially grateful to Dr. Carolyn Ridenour, whose gentle heart and
personhood as an educator have blessed my life in many ways. She nurtured the scholar-
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researcher within me and showed me that it is possible to integrate sincere compassion
with great research. I am grateful to all my doctoral professors who supported me,
especially Dr. Joseph Watras, whose professorial integrity I most identified with, and
whose teaching of ethical theory and educational philosophy I most appreciated. I am
grateful to several Marianists who were supportive of me, especially: Fr. David Fleming,
S.M., for his early presence along this journey, and for guiding my Marianist studies; and
Bro. Thomas Giardino, S.M., who collaborated with me on several Marianist leadership
development programs; my journey towards making this contribution is closely linked to
his trust and perseverance. I gratefully acknowledge the support of numerous persons
and offices related to the University of Dayton and the Marianist Province of the United
States. I am particularly grateful to the eight exemplary lay leaders who collaborated
with me in this study, and also my pilot participant. I am humbled by their trust,
openness, and generosity towards me, and by their willingness to share their interior lives
with the readers of this study. I thank Sr. Leema Rose, SSpS, who has interceded for me
steadfastly over the past two decades of my life and ministry. I thank each person who
has contributed to this work, directly or indirectly – for every expression of support,
every prayer for grace, and every act of kindness. May every blessing be yours.
With my wife Hazel, I offer this work to Jesus and Mary, whose love for us, and
ours for whom, is the reason why this dissertation exists. To all who will read this
manuscript – thank you! Please share your reflections with others, and perhaps, also with
me. (
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... viii
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
Introduction to Leadership Research ............................................................................. 1
The Scholarship of Leadership ............................................................................... 1
Leadership is a Phenomenon in Human-Organizational Experience ..................... 2
Searching for Essences Amidst a Multitude of Meanings ...................................... 3
The Value of Organization-specific Articulations of Exemplary Leadership ....... 4
Focusing this Study ........................................................................................................... 5
Focus of Inquiry ...................................................................................................... 5
Research Problem and Need ................................................................................... 5
Statement of Purpose .............................................................................................. 8
Guiding Research Question .................................................................................... 8
Research Site ........................................................................................................... 9
Audience ............................................................................................................... 10
Delimitations ......................................................................................................... 11
Key Terms and Phrases ......................................................................................... 12
Situating the Self ............................................................................................................. 14
Personal Background ............................................................................................ 15
Defining Leadership.............................................................................................. 16
Sources of Understanding Leadership .................................................................. 17
How I Came to Focus on Exemplary Leadership and Commitment .................... 18
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 21
Introduction to Literature Review ................................................................................ 21
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