What leaders can learn about authenticity from children’s books?

Ever since being exposed to the scholar Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s 1990 groundbreaking essay “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors,” I’ve been blown away by the power of this metaphor. Dr. Bishop advanced the concept that children need three types of reading experiences to grow and develop: “mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors.”

With adaptation, this metaphor also applies to leaders, especially those interested in human-centered leadership. They can use a mirror to look inside themself to become more self-aware, be a window to others to be better understood, and provide more opportunities to others.

Yet, it’s been a long and winding road for this metaphor to take root in children’s literature. It’s only been in the past few years that the authors of children’s books regularly write about characters who can act as meaningful mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors. And now that children’s books are finally more diverse, many titles are under attack and subject to book bannings across the United States.

Many librarians are finding themselves practicing self-censorship in culture wars, which isn’t healthy. Will leaders who want to practice more authenticity find themselves having to self-censor in their situations? I don’t know. Instead it’s a topic I’m thinking more about and started to probe in this Forbes Coaches Council article.

Here’s the article: Can ‘mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors’ help leaders be more authentic?,   published online on September 23, 2024.