Redefining narcissistic leadership in educational organizations: exploring the outcome space through a phenomenographic lens

Purpose In the centralized and hierarchically structured educational system of Iran, school leadership is often shaped by cultural, institutional and political pressures that may foster narcissistic tendencies. This study explores the varied ways in which school principals and teachers in Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan, experience and conceptualize narcissistic leadership. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a phenomenographic approach to explore the qualitatively different ways educators understand and experience narcissistic leadership within the school context. A total of 20 participants, comprising 9 principals and 11 teachers, were selected through criterion and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected through three tools of open-ended questionnaires, narrative frames and in-depth, semi-structured interviews designed to elicit participants’ reflective narratives about leadership practices and interpersonal dynamics in their schools. Findings Using a phenomenographic analytical approach, the study identified a hierarchy of five qualitatively distinct categories: narcissism as self-display in the school environment, narcissism as symbolic control and decision-making monopoly, narcissism as fear of losing legitimacy, narcissism as a heroic self-narrative and narcissism as the reproduction and imposition of structure. These categories are organized within a structured outcome space that highlights how professional identity, power relations and visions of the school evolve as awareness deepens. Originality/value By concurrently examining principals’ internal justifications and teachers’ external interpretations, this study elucidates the perceptual and relational dynamics of narcissism within the architecture of school leadership. Theoretically, it reconceptualizes narcissism as an institutional and socially embedded construct rather than a merely individual disposition, demonstrating how it is constituted and reproduced through organizational logic, professional norms and symbolic expectations within the educational system. Also, through the application of a phenomenographic outcome space and the integration of diverse data sources, the study advances an innovative framework for uncovering the varied forms of leadership awareness that emerge across hierarchical levels of educational organizations.