Date of Award

Spring 2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Joshua D. Henson

Second Advisor

Dr. Bethany Peters

Third Advisor

Dr. Katrina Hutchins

Abstract

The challenges that are encountered in private schools are in constant flux. Teachers and administrators are tasked with leading and guiding future generations in tumultuous times. A leader’s creativity has a significant influence on the diverse teams that are engaging school-age children. Creative leadership is lacking in academic research in comparison to more established leadership theories. The lack of research is excessively apparent in the multigenerational nonprofit private education sector. In this qualitative study, two Seventh-Day Adventist private school educational teams in southeastern California were engaged in focus group interviews. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of creative leadership tenets on multigenerational private education teams. There were 16 participants from two focus groups representing two 501(c)(3) nonprofit private education organizations. The data yielded three themes: affiliation endears, experience galvanizes, and public management polarizes. The findings showed that creative leadership endears, galvanizes, and can also polarize multigenerational nonprofit private education teams. The findings further showed that creative leadership is viable leadership theory and style for positively impacting multigenerational teams in private education. Future research could expand the literature pool by investigating creative leadership in additional nonprofit, denominational, and regional locales.

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