HomePublicationsLearning to Lead, Leading to LearnPart 2 Chapter 15: Personal, Professional Identities, Belonging, and Change: The Process of Becoming Book MenuLearning to Lead, Leading to Learn SectionsPart 1Part 2ChaptersPrefaceCourse Overview Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Book Resources Contributors Playbook Open access PDFdoi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa11Metrics: 72 views Sheila Carter-Tod Despite a lifetime of leadership experience, Carter-Tod still struggles with what she calls “the challenge of becoming.” As a woman of color and a first-generation college student, her sense of her personal and professional identities do not always or easily align. In this reflective chapter, she revisits several leadership moments in her life to uncover—and reclaim—the practices of situational, agency-based leadership. She also underscores the importance of feeling a sense of belonging even in places that require significant change. Discussion QuestionsCarter-Tod speaks to an often unspoken but we think pervasive concern among leaders, especially those of us from marginalized backgrounds or who are first-generation college-goers in our families, that we don’t truly “belong” in the academy, or we don’t have what it takes to be the kind of leader we want to be. Consider a time in your academic career when you felt as if you didn’t belong. How did you handle it? What would you say to other leaders—new or seasoned—who experience this feeling? Share: