Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Case 9.2: Kassy’s Story
Case Synopsis and Analysis
This case study is a first-person story from Kassandra Gutierrez, a preschool teacher at
Living Stones Academy, a private faith-based school in Michigan, serving a diverse student
population from preschool through sixth grade. Gutierrez explains her own struggles about
being her authentic self, growing up as a Mexican-American with complicated family
dynamics. Gutierrez often felt isolated among her peers who were primarily white at the
private school she attended and did not have one person of color as a teacher from
Learning Objectives:
• Students should demonstrate understanding of authentic leadership and be able to
Answers to Questions in the Text:
1. In the chapter, Bill George’s approach to authentic leadership suggests that truly
authentic leaders exhibit passion, strong values, connectedness, consistency, and
compassion. In what way has Gutierrez shown these qualities? Which characteristics
are most representative of Gutierrez? Discuss.
2. The Model of Authentic Leadership (Figure 9.2) posits that critical life events shape
an individual’s development as an authentic leader. In what way do you think this has
been true for Gutierrez?
3. When leaders tell their life stories, they gain greater self-knowledge and a clearer
picture of who they are and their role. Do you think telling her story has been helpful
to Gutierrez and the school community? If you were Gutierrez, would you have
shared your story so openly? What are the implications for a leader when sharing
personal stories with the public? Discuss.
4. As illustrated in Figure 9.2, authentic leaders use their internal moral perspective to
guide their behavior and are motivated by higher-order values such as justice and
community. Describe Gutierrez’s moral perspective and the impact it has on her
behavior as a leader. How does her moral perspective impact how she is viewed by
others?
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Potential Teaching Approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on Authentic Leadership Theory and Case Study
9.2:
• Hold a lecture on authentic leadership.
Exercises for This Case Study:
1. In small groups, students should imagine they are Kassandra Gutierrez. They need to
2. In small groups, after reading the case study, students should discuss and outline
Kassandra Gutierrez’s life events. What were they? How did she manage them? How
did they manage her? How did they create new opportunities for her and for others?
How do critical life events shape who we are and inform the choices we make?