The college president as poet, prophet, and provisioner: An interpretive study of the charism of Mercy as instantiated in the leadership styles of five college presidents

This study sought to examine how the charism of Mercy was instantiated in the lives and leadership of five college presidents. The definition of charism as a relational phenomena framed the investigation of the participants interpretation of their historical tradition within the context of their current reality. The participants in the study were all Sisters of Mercy who headed baccalaureate institutions sponsored by the religious congregation of the Sisters of Mercy.; The research project was embedded in the interpretive paradigm. Within the interpretive paradigm, qualitative methods were utilized to address three research questions. Interviews were conducted and the campus of each of the five participants were visited.; The data from the interviews were analyzed in an inductive manner utilizing the constant comparative method recommended by Bogdan and Biklen (1982). The research included the additional step of returning the data and emergent theory to the participants so that the analysis of the material was a collaborative effort.; This interaction with the data and the insights of the participants are expressed as a collective story of a day in the life of a Mercy college president and an explication of the metaphor of the president as poet, prophet and provisioner.; The participants constructed their leadership within a framework of charism that rejected the narrow confines of leadership as a solitary exercise of positional power and broadened it to include collective and communal components.; The presidents spoke as poets drawing their understanding of themselves and their leadership from a reflection of their lived experiences. The poetry of connection and interdependence formed the basis for their actions.; They spoke as prophets advocating and encouraging the community to focus on goals that were mutually established. They understood that their power came from acting within that community. This was not a power of might and control but rather a power that came from the community as a whole.; They spoke as provisioners as they sought to provide whatever tools necessary for the community to achieve those goals. They understood personnel needs, financial resources, and long range planning within the context of the collective activities of the community.