Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) Leaders and Leadership

The author presents highlights from a paper accepted at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting. A 12-minute videorecording is also available. Gender and leadership research has traditionally employed a binary framework, overlooking the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) leaders and forcing leaders of all genders and intersectional identities into a dichotomous frame. This paper reviewed interdisciplinary literature using a robust search strategy in three academic databases and Google Scholar, as well as across eight leadership studies journals. Sixteen sources involving 440 leaders’ experiences were found. The author conducted a thematic analysis to explore how TGNC leaders’ experiences challenge and advance leadership theories, deepen understanding of discrimination, and offer ways to support their emergence and success. TGNC leaders’ experiences bring new perspectives to the areas of identity development, leader emergence, leadership style, and workplace discrimination. By exploring these areas with a more inclusive conception of gender and from the vantage point of an exceptionally marginalized group, this work proposes ways to increase the validity of future research questions and bolster ongoing efforts toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion for all people.