This paper illustrates central themes of the Cinderella fairy tale in the leadership of three contemporary women leaders, Ruth Simmons, Mary Kay, and Oprah Winfrey, who exercise their leadership in three different contexts, academia, business and the media, respectively. It then describes the leadership of these women in terms of specific competencies, which the three contemporary women leaders share and that are their defining leadership attributes. Cinderella themes, context and leadership competencies are linked in a conceptual model that treats these as antecedents of leadership effectiveness.
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