Leadership experiences of gender-diverse managers in US libraries and museums

Purpose This article explores how gender-diverse managers in US libraries and museums experience leadership and perceive gender to influence leadership. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with five gender-diverse managers. Data were analyzed with inductive, semantic thematic analysis and a complementary, deductive analysis using Wharton's multilevel gender framework. Findings Participants described relational, pragmatic, point-person leadership – connecting and supporting people, coordinating work and translating between units – while expressing ambivalence about formal and hierarchical roles. Most did not initially link leadership to gender; when prompted, they articulated gender's influence at individual, interactional and institutional levels. Gender discrimination and transphobia persist even in woman-dominated contexts, shaping decisions about visibility, risk and advancement. Originality/value By centering gender-diverse managerial experiences in libraries and museums – contexts underrepresented in public leadership research – this study challenges binary norms and demonstrates the value of grounding leadership in multidimensional gender theory.