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Working Through Ideological Conflict: Utility Of Authentic Leadership To Build Community, Jennifer J. Mcmurray

Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership Theses

Many people find it difficult to communicate across ideological differences, particularly if those differences are politically-charged. An abundance of research describes the differences between the two dominant political philosophies of the United States, liberalism and conservatism, but little research has been conducted on how to develop and maintain a community inclusive of these ideological differences. This qualitative research project gathered information from six self-identified leaders and 41 survey participants of varying ages, genders, political affiliations, races, and religions over the summer of 2021. Three categories of findings emerged: (a) how ideological differences make community-building challenging; (b) when and how people …