The Nexus between Childhood Trauma and the Emergence of Leadership

Abstract

This paper explores the nexus between childhood trauma and the emergence of leadership. While it is easy to highlight the negative effects and outcomes of childhood trauma, the positive outcomes in later adulthood are often overlooked or misattributed especially in the area of leadership. Charting the course of selected leaders—who, through a history of childhood trauma and survival later in life have emerged as leaders in their respective fields—this paper showcases the need for more study on the links between childhood trauma and leadership. While in the case of childhood trauma, prevention might be optimal, this paper also explores the necessary discussion about the aftermath of childhood abuse, especially in adulthood with respect to leadership.

Share and Cite:

Gloria, N. , Zeaghe, K. , Tutu, N. , Mbe, M. and Ermeco, S. (2022) The Nexus between Childhood Trauma and the Emergence of Leadership. Open Journal of Leadership, 11, 335-355. doi: 10.4236/ojl.2022.114018.

1. Introduction

Leaders who experienced childhood trauma have exhibited the impact it had on them, from the place it all began to where they are, thus resulting in leading other sufferers to wholeness, to prevent future tragedies (Fazio, 2009; Frazier et al., 2013). In our world today, most leaders that went through a traumatic experience have been left with their personal choice to either turn their pain to gain for the interest of others or remain in the state of trauma. An example is the incidence of a traumatic loss that was referenced as the inspiration of the foundation, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and several other organizations (Frazier et al., 2013). Cadet & Luken (2011) also found out that survivors like Jena Robert Cadet founded an organization to abolish the practice of childhood slavery and trafficking after a tragic experience in Haiti.

Children needing assistance are lacking a variety of psychological treatments (La Greca et al., 2008). For children to heal from these pains or be able to transform them as gain, proper and effective management is of great importance to enable this process of change, therefore, there is a need to consider and know the right procedures to overcome. Identification of trauma has made researchers come to a conclusion that the students with some kind of trauma require social and emotional interventions (Kataoka, Langley, Wong, Baweja, & Stein, 2012). In the past decades, about fifty-four percent of half US families have been around some type of disaster (Save The Children, 2014). The inability to perceive the catastrophic impact of childhood trauma on leadership is one that in the long run turns pain into a greater good for impact and to others a scar that remains. Nurturing children to counter this impact acknowledges the fact that people react to situations in different ways. Children with traumatic experiences may likely be transferred into adulthood (Metzler, Merrick, Klevens, Ports, & Ford, 2017). A substantial amount of youths at a point in their lives can talk about some type of traumatic incident during childhood with an approximate of 60 percent children experiencing a minimum of at least one trauma, likewise about 22 percent of youth experiencing four or more traumas of different kind (Finkelhor, as cited by Berliner, 2013).

American Psychological Stress Disorder and Trauma in Children and Adolescents discovered that by age 16 approximately averages of about two-thirds of young children are victims of at least one form of trauma (La Greca et al., 2008). and the negative impact of the aftermath of trauma is a normal occurrence retrogressing most children to their root behavior (La Greca et al., 2008). There is a constant need for continuous research to address the needs of children with childhood trauma (Ganzel & Morris, 2011). Hence, to evaluate the impact of trauma on children can be predicted in a child’s development (Ganzel & Morris, 2011). Trauma is an experience or event that overwhelms your capacity to depend upon or protect yourself (Garland, 2018).

In the past early decades, some researchers that earlier previously analyzed trauma explained that the outcome from trauma may be a pointer to anxiety, helplessness, dissociation where the mind is detached from emotion, behaviors, including hypervigilance, watchfulness of one’s environment above the normality of life, efforts to stop recurrence of the trauma, as well as self-inflicted pain (Yates et al., 2008). The indelible detrimental effect of trauma on any person causes a threat and a sign of danger is seen as days go by. In dealing with trauma, it is important to be specific about the details and conclusions of traumatic occurrences of violence that are not only put into consideration, but an individual's perception of threat or danger is also considered as an influential factor. In 2013, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association released the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The result shows that an individual directly experiences trauma from an adverse event, being a witness of such happenings, and when one learns about it from others.

In the area of leadership development research carried out, the main priority is to assist leaders in growth and development using the framework of Daniel Goleman’s four-quadrant model of emotional intelligence (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management (Cherniss et al., 1998).

An area of concern that has been ardently expunged on leaders’ development is the effects of collective traumas, and this burgeoning element is important with the emergence of diverse leaders that lead organizations today. Research in psychology and cognitive psychology explains that childhood traumas experienced become part of people’s life as adults. The importance of leadership is inevitable since leadership is primarily a relationship, and relational traumas play a great role in influencing our skills to work with and when it involves leading others (Schore, 2009). Likewise, predictions and evaluations on how family, education, social environment, and cultural background instill values and enhances aspiring leaders to proper behavior (Day et al., 2014). The influence of social context on leader development has been an important topic in leadership development literature.

In view of several perceptions, people like Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, and Walumbwa (2005) proposed that for any authentic leader, personal histories are the foundation for the development of authentic leadership, and the spark in it which are the “key trigger events serve as a catalyst for heightened levels of leaders self-awareness” (p. 347). Leaders have come to leadership positions in response to their personal experiences of trauma. Turner and Marvin (2008) affirmed the journey in their assertion that adverse life events enable leadership, create a lasting impact, and propel individuals to a totally different place (p. 380).

This paper has nine (9) sections. Section two breaks down childhood trauma and leadership framework. Section three describes famous leaders that make up the sample for this study who have documented traumatic pasts. Section four is the method using content analysis. The fifth section research design part demonstrates the impact or transformation these leaders have had in their respective domains as a result of their traumatic experiences. Section six seeks to trace the pathways these leaders took to become transformational and model leaders. The seventh section discusses the findings and the data collected. Section eight shows the limitations of the study and makes recommendations. Lastly, section nine summarizes the findings of the paper and points out implications for further research.

2. Theoretical Framework

The framework for this study focused on the conceptual link between childhood trauma in selected leaders(Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yusoufzai, Tyler Perry) who turned out to be leaders in their respective domains and their impact, directly or indirectly, was attributed to traumatic experience(s) in their past.

Oprah Winfrey (born January 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S.), American television personality, actress, and entrepreneur whose syndicated daily talk show, was among the most popular of the genre. She became one of the richest and most influential women in the United States1.

Malala Yousafzai, (born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Pakistan), as a young girl, Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 but survived. In 2014, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize2.

Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry’s films vary in style from orthodox filmmaking techniques to filmed productions of live stage plays. Many of his stage-play films have been subsequently adapted as feature films3. With the definitions and categorizing of the various forms of childhood violence, this study ascertained the specific kind of trauma each subject underwent before finding out how and if it had an impact later on in their life in leadership positions.

Using this theoretical framework, this study sought to analyze the link between the past (childhood) traumatic experiences of the subjects and the subsequent emergence as leaders in their respective areas of influence.

The emphasis on different likely occurrences of childhood trauma at various levels of socioeconomic status was reported, albeit a greater number from the low-income and poor family environments was identified. Families with low incomes are under more pressure, are more liable to face stressful circumstances of various kinds of both economic and financial stress, drug abuse, and violence in the home. Thedata for this study shows that both negative and positive feedback for traumatic situations in different leadership categories is visible. Leaders may engage with new resolve to strengthen their transformational leadership capacities. However, Trauma leads to decreased emotional cognitive, physical functioning and has a negative impact on a leader’s career and exposure.

2.1. Framework for Childhood Trauma

A study by Sedlack et al. (2010), demonstrated that in nearly all cases, the rates for poor treatment, neglect, and the endangerment outcome for Black children in the US have been higher than those for White and Hispanic children. Sedlack et al. (2010) also went further to say that children enrolled in school also had higher rates of Harm Standard physical abuse and overall Harm Standard maltreatment. According to the fourth edition of The National Incidence Study (NIS-4,2010), “…family structure and living arrangements contributed a great deal in fostering childhood trauma. Children who were living with their biological parents (married) generally had the lowest rate. On the other hand, those living with a single parent who had a cohabiting partner in the household had the highest rate in all maltreatment categories. Compared to children living with married biological parents, those whose single parent had a live-in partner had more than 8 times the rate of maltreatment overall, over 10 times the rate of abuse, and nearly 8 times the rate of neglect”.

Exposure to difficult conditions in childhood is often linked to the family environment. The family is usually a source of direct threats to the child’s personal safety and a context for children witnessing violence (Finkelhor, Turner, Ormrod, & Hamby, 2009; Finkelhor, et al., 2005). Traumatic experiences tend to increase problems with focus and emotions, which in turn can cause problems with that phase of the child’s development (Malizia, 2017).

2.2. Framework for Leadership

Christensen (2010) points out that while situational and transformational leadership styles have a lot incommon when it comes to the desire or ability of leaders to effect change, there is a not so negligible difference when it comes to leaders with a laissez-faire leadership style. Rivers (2019) sees the autocratic leadership style as the display of a controlling attitude that hoards decision-making and power, governing single-handedly, and disregarding feedback and input from everyone else. In trauma settings, transformational leadership styles are more effective. Middleton, Harvey, and Esaki (2015) display the sanctuary model that exemplifies this approach. Vanderpal and Brazie (2022) stress the importance of the underlying cognitive and neural drivers of leadership, stressing that there are neurocognitive links to three types of leadership: transactional, transformational, and servant leadership. Professional Interventions like non clinical interviews, story circles, and leadership and advocacy education and training, can help the practitioners provide services and programs that create a space for women to make changes in their personal lives and their community (Francis East & Roll, 2015).

There is a blooming interest in psychology and management research on the topic of resilience. One of the reasons why is the potential of resilience to create important organizational outcomes. The data showed that there is limited understanding of factors—both individual and contextual—that promote resilient behaviors in organizations (Nguyen, Kuntz, Näswall, & Malinen, 2016). This study investigates the relationships between personal variables (proactive personality and optimism), leadership styles (empowering and contingent-reward leadership) and employee resilience with childhood trauma as a starting point.

Previous literature suggests that there are post-traumatic effects (both positive and negative) in leadership styles. Kramer and Allen (2018) point out in a study that there is a decrease in transformational leadership styles after trauma. In trauma situations, different kinds of leadership have varying levels of effectiveness. Yun and Sims (2005) show that empowering people to lead is more effective when the effects of the trauma are low and the team is relatively experienced. Meanwhile when the effects of the trauma are high and the team was relatively inexperienced, directive leadership was more effective. The empowerment approach of leadership in trauma cases especially in women from poor backgrounds and other structural inequalities has its merits as highlighted by Francis and Roll (2015).

3. Context for the Study

Oprah Gail Winfrey is one of the world’s most famous television hosts for more than 25 years. Oprah has been both an actress and producer for almost as many years as her television program has run. For over twenty years, she has received one award after another for her numerous accomplishments, one of which is the prestigious Peabody Award (Garson, 2011). A series of events consists of Oprah’s legacy; when she was six, she moved to live with her grandmother on the farm. Because she had no room of her own, she shared a room with her grandmother. Most times, she stayed up with the thought that her grandfather may come to abuse her. Garson (2011) also explained that Oprah’s grandfather also had a fearsome presence. Hence, giving her whoopings with a cane were a part of Oprah’s childhood. The early years of her childhood consisted of more pain and sadness than joy. It looked as though she had overcome the predicaments of the past, yet she often talks of a particular time growing up that seems to be a breaking point in her life. Those traumatic events, reflected in many of her today’s involvements, are relatable to many Oprah admirers, especially those w similar experiences (Perry & Winfrey, 2021).

Oprah was raised to be religious, but this came with much ambiguity as most of her peers called her nicknames such as “The Preacher” and “Miss Jesus.” She was even called “the sack girl,” because most of her clothes were made from potato sacks (King & Norman, 1987). Living with her mom, Oprah always felt unvalued, rejected and was no match to half-sister who according to her looked more beautiful because of her light skin tone. Her sister was constantly admired for her looks, while smart and talented Oprah was never applauded.

Oprah took advantage of her fame and popularity as a medium for speaking out against her traumatic childhood experience. In 1992, “Scared Silenta documentary detailing her childhood experiences of rape and molestationm was released. Telling the truth about her childhood to the world according to Oprah was self satisfying. Mair (1994) points out that past events must never define our future and uses Oprah’s life as an example of that view. She soon became the frequent object of sexual abuse. Oprah was raped when she was only nine years by her cousin followed by years of unending molestation by men and relatives and even her mother’s lovers leaving with this secret was hard to bear because Oprah had a deep conviction that her own mother was aware of these events and failed to protect her. Oprah bore the blame on her shoulders just like other rape and molested children. After all, none of her family members realy believed her story. The fact that her mother never talked about it was so traumatic to Oprah. (Oprah Winfrey, Interview with Larry King 2009).

It took adulthood for Oprah to fully comprehend the role her grandmother played by shaping her character and teaching her the essence of being spiritual, and a strong believer in God. This gave Oprah a sense of reasoning and helped her regain a sense of self that was almost lost; the knowing that she had a voice and a place in the world (Oprah Winfrey, Interview with Michael Logan).

Another is Yousafzai, who was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a teenager, she publicly spoke against the ban on girls’ education imposed by the Pakistani Taliban. According to Malala, Education gives freedom and an opportunity especially for women to shape their own future. She repeatedly faced great obstacles in her fight for the right to girls’ education and freedom from prejudice (Iodice, 2020).

Malala’s father was also a social activist and educator. The Taliban attacked and destroyed girls’ schools in 2007 prohibiting women from education and the right to work outside the home and even forced them into wearing full cover attire with a male guardian watching them. Yousafzai’s family had no option than to flee for safety (Buneri, 2011).

Malala gave her first speech at a press club in Peshawar on September 1, 2008 against the Taliban shutting down schools. In her words, “How Dare the Taliban Take Away My Basic Right to Education?” This public protest earned her the International Children’s Peace Prize as well as the National Youth Peace Prize in 2011. Following her blog on BBC, she wrote articles describing life under the Taliban using nicknames to hide her identity and keep her family safe. With this growing popularity, she started receiving death threats from papers slipped under her door to social media warnings (The Express Tribune, 2012).

In October 2012, a masked gunman raided the school bus and shot Malala on her way back from school on the left side of her head. She only gained consciousness 10 days later in a hospital in England (Malala & Lamb, 2013).

The event sparked up protests, and news about Malala spread around the world that organizations such as the UN special envoy for global education took great interest. This eventually led to the vote for Pakistan’s first Right to Education Bill. The president of Pakistan also signed off on a $10 million education fund in Yousafzai’s honor in December 2012. The Malala Fund was set up to promote girls education from ages 14 to 18 including Syrian refugees (Westall, 2015).

In 2013, Yousafzai won the United Nations Human Rights Prize. Malala has dedicated herself to giving interviews and speaking on the importance of female education. In her book I am Malala:The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban (2013)She concluded by saying that her healing and support came from “…my God. I thank my Allah…He is the greatest. By giving me this height to reach people, he has also given me great responsibilities. Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country—this is my dream. Education is for every boy and every girl in the world. To see each and every human being with a smile of happiness is my wish…” (Malala & Lamb, 2013). In 2014, she was the youngest to win the Nobel Peace Prize (Engel, 2014).

Tyler Perry is one of America’s top influential and inspiring people, with a networth of more than $1 billion. But before he could create this success, Perry had challenges from his childhood characterized by abuse, trauma, and depression (Gillian Telling, 2019). https://people.com/movies/how-tyler-perry-forgave-his-abusive-father-and-healed-from-his-traumatic-childhood/

Growing up Tyler had to put up with whippings from his father and imagination was the technique he used to overcome this physical abuse. He will viscously have him whooped with a vacuum cord and sometimes severely beaten to the point where he loses consciousness. His mom and uncle could not help him escape the unavoidable. Tyler lived in constant fear of his dad and when he could not bear the toture he would inflict pain on himself by slitting his wrist or even attempt suicide. His mother as he describes was his saving grace. She took him to church and drew him closer to God (The Oprah Winfrey Show, 2010).

Moreso, Tyler was not only exposed to physical torture but he was also a victim of sexual abuse. According to The Oprah Winfrey Show 2010, Tyler was sexually abused by four different men and it began as early as six years old. An adult male neighbour sexually molested him while building a bird house. Also a male nurse from the hospital and an adult male from church raped him orally using God and the Bible as a pretext to justify his actions. Even his friend’s mother sexually violated him at age of ten. That seems to be his first sexual experience (The Oprah Winfrey Show, 2010).

His childhood experience did not stop him. Today, Tyler Perry is the author behind more than 17 feature movies and over 20 stage plays, including television shows, and a New York Times bestselling book that attracted audiences and built communities.

4. Method

Content analysis as, “a research technique for creating replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use” Krippendorff (2004). This points out the inferential nature of content analysis: through inductive, deductive, or abductive processes, conclusions are drawn from certain premises and samples.

From Krippendorff’s point of view, content analysis is not restricted to only textual analysis, but enforces other aspects like testimonials from the main subject of study (Garson, 2011).

In this paper, the writer’s research instruments used is to enable readers discover answers to diverse unanswered questions to cases regarding the effect of childhood trauma on leadership to aid further research in this regard. The population of this study is associated with three prominent individuals in different industries where articles written, interviews and autobiographies penned down on their traumatic experiences were read and analyzed, these individuals are categorized and leaders and they are Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, and Tyler Perry. The specifics on the articles were of most importance where the names of journal, country, year of publications, data collection tools, type of research, and data analysis method.

The essential idea of the content analysis is to elucidate data collected categories and reach concepts and relationships. For this purpose, emerging concepts were organized and determined in a very logical way. Consequently, the method ended with findings and interpretations. First, the method of screening and therefore the criteria for choosing the candidates for the research was determined. Both Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, and Tyler Perry have been tested and recorded as victims of Childhood Trauma and have eventually emerged as leaders impacting the world positively with their Traumatic Experiences. Next, some codes were allocated to various themes, and then the data was arranged and grouped according to these themes. Finally, the data were thoroughly analyzed and the findings were reviewed. The researchers carefully observed the object of these cases and identified the validity of qualitative research. Thus, quantification, context, and validity—with reference to the inferences drawn from the content analysis are all about making valid analysis. Content denotes what is contained (Prasad, 2008), so the researcher analyzed the messages that were “contained” in the sentences and phrases.

The writers have researched frequently asked questions based on the effect of childhood trauma on leadership to aid in the comprehension of the subject fully. Some of them are as follows:

1) How did these three leaders link their childhood traumatic experiences to leadership emergence?

2) Why does Trauma leave such lasting effects?

In view of a thematic study of the subjects of this paper, a collection of data was categorized according to childhood trauma and its types (Table 1) and leadership and its variations (Table 2).

5. Research Design

The population of this study involves articles written regarding three prominent individuals who have had traumatic experiences (Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, and Tyler Perry). The sample of this study includes articles, interviews, and autobiographies that have open access from early 1986 to date. These articles were analyzed according to journal name, publication year, country, type of research, data collection tool(s), and data analysis method.

The basic idea of content analysis is to explain data collected categories and reach concepts and relationships. For this purpose, emerging concepts were organized and determined in a logical way. Consequently, the process ended with findings and interpretations. First, the process of screening and the criteria for selecting the candidates for the research was determined. Both Oprah Winfrey, Malala Yousafzai, and Tyler Perry have been tested and recorded as victims of Childhood Trauma and have eventually emerged as leaders impacting the world positively with their Traumatic Experiences. Next, some codes were allocated to various themes, and then the data was arranged and grouped according to these themes. Finally, the data were thoroughly analyzed and the findings were reviewed. The researchers carefully observed the object of these cases and identified the validity of qualitative research.

Table 1. Details of 10 models explaining childhood trauma.

Table 2. Details of the 16 models explaining leadership styles, definition and models.

The researchers identified their practice as Transformational Leaders and the processes by which these leaders went from a dark side to light. This research design was concentrated on a content analysis method to address some selected transformational and motivational leaders that experienced childhood trauma. Analysis of traumatic experiences. Analysis of how traumatic experiences became a strong basis for these leaders; who are Survivors with influence. The ability to overshadow trauma and achieve an outstanding role of impact of these leaders where they are continually aiding those who have encountered such to live above their dark side of life was stated with success stones of how they emerged to a leadership role. Below is an analysis of these leaders on how they were transformed from a dark side to light.

6. Pathways from Childhood Trauma to a Transformational Leader

6.1. Oprah Gail Winfrey

Transformational leadership is objectively believed to affect followers that bring about transformation. In the case of a transformational leader, Oprah Gail Winfrey, with various styles of transforming effect, she can be defined as one with idealized influence attributes (IIA), and one that her sense of purpose is that of an Inspirational Motivation (IM), displaying of values, sense of purpose which are all followers imitate from transformational leaders. The achievement and fulfillment of Oprah from all of her childhood trauma have shown transformation. Oprah Grail Winfrey had a troubled adolescence in a small farming community, she was sexually abused by closely related males and friends of her mother Vernita. Her childhood traumatic experience of being whipped by her grandfather and sexual abuse by a closely knitted family at age nine for five years and her mother’s friend. Feeling inferior due to the complexion of her half-sister who everyone complimented and loved more than herself. Her mom’s refusal to discuss her sexual abuses was a trauma itself.

Her endurance of several forms of abuse as a child made her describe her childhood as a “disease to please”. She explains how these grew in her brain whereby she became vulnerable, wanting to be a man-pleaser. This she explains as the genesis of an open wound to be sexually molested and assaulted specifically quoting the deficiency of a child not to be able to fight for themselves because all her abusers were adult men who had rule and authority over her.

The breaking point for her was when she made a documentary titled scared silent was lifting for her. Oprah emphasizes during the hour-long event of childhood trauma of dark moments came to light with all of these successes of impact where Oprah Winfrey’s leadership Academy for Girls was established, her motive was to use the academy to enlighten people on how they can be transformed regardless of a traumatic experience as our greatest power referring to the title of the book which reframes how we look at trauma. She explains her empathy for others who were sexually molested for children who grew up like her in environments where they were not seen, heard, or loved, and especially for her sincere passion for education and giving her very best to make it a dream come true for girls who had similar situations like her to be able to receive a better education.

6.2. Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai has survived Religious Violence from the Taliban Group to become a global icon of courage and an international ambassador for girls’ education. That part of her remarkable story is widely known, but what hasn’t been told before is how close she came to dying. Now, it is nothing short of a miracle that she is still alive and even more astounding that she suffered no major brain or nerve damage after being shot. For her work in drawing global attention to the threat to girls’ education in Pakistan, in 2014 at age 17, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate up to that time. She also won other accolades, and several funds and education initiatives were established in her honor, and has not stopped being an Inspiration to the world through her Childhood Traumatic experience.

6.3. Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is one of the most popular and successful African American Hollywood stars. His early life was in New Orleans where he had depressing abhorrent experiences of traumatic childhood where he was mentally, verbally, physically, and sexually abused and to crown it all his family lived in abject poverty. This physical abuse was from his father toward himself and his mother which was painful for him. This led to a miserable and unhappy twenty-eight years of his life.

His feelings of insecurity at an adolescent age were traumatic for Tyler, making him constantly have feelings of one that is not safe. The most devastating brutal experience was his own father terrorizing him, with brutal physical abuse that made him attempt to even commit suicide but with the help of his mom who he describes as a savior by her taking him to church drew him closer to God.

Tyler’s abusers were present in the early stage of his life at the age of 5, they appeared from building a birdhouse to a nurse, a friend’s mother at 10, and a man from church, using the same church and the bible he believed in against him to justify his actions of oral sex which was the very first abuse for him.

Despite all these childhood traumas, Tyler Perry conquers and out of this darkness proceeds a conqueror that emerges as a successful leader with achievements to show for it proceeded and became an actor, playwright, screenwriter, theater director, film director, television director, film producer, television producer, and television Mogul. Tyler Perry Studios is one of the largest production facilities. It is an American film production studio in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2006, Tyler became a best-selling author, the play I know I’ve Been Changed is the result of a winning side over a tortured past. Customizing his writing to tell an escape measure for anyone experiencing trauma, he also specifies moral elements in his work as strength. Tyler notes that there is a message in his written stories: to get out of the situation-there's a better life: it's as if that little boy in him is speaking, hoping his mother and somebody else's mother is listening. To him, these words are speaking to a lot of people that are not able to afford therapy and never had one who will see his plans and maybe “get it in some ways”, these are part of his recovery plan for people with trauma who cannot speak for themselves.

On October 22, 2009, Tyler Perry’s life was told in a story, and visiting his childhood home in New Orleans Louisiana brought back the thoughts of his traumatic childhood experiences leading to his statement “Man my heart is racing just being here”, meaning he has no good memories of the place, yet he put that aside and forged ahead. The story “Madea” deeply expresses one picking up your life even if once traumatized. He advises it is alright to get depressed, pained, or cry but emphasizes not to stay there too long, pick yourself up, and move forward, “get up and go on with your life”. This can explain an intentional lifestyle of power to continuously overcome.

7. Discussion

Trauma is an experience or event that overwhelms your capacity to depend upon or protect yourself. While much of the trauma that we think about is acute trauma or one-time trauma, like car accidents, a lot of the trauma that we experience is repeated trauma(?). There is a specific set of feedback to acute this traumatic problem to treat us survive and accelerate us up for fight. But with continuous trauma, our brains and bodies don’t adjust to accelerate up. On the contrary, the target shifts to Coverage: how can I clothe my atmosphere, so I don’t experience this overwhelming state day after day. And this efficiency and repetition of protection become our way of living in the world—it becomes our personality. It becomes the way we lead. But it’s not just our self-regulation and mood that are impacted. It’s also, and perhaps even more, our trust and belief in relationships. Whereas many sharp traumas are misfortune and misadventure, most repeated traumas are relational Calamity— the illusion of people Carry out brutality and fright upon other crowd— that is what conflict is, that is what child abuse is, that is what domestic violence is.

8. Limitations/Recommendations

The writer of this article used a qualitative, content analysis methodology to assess the effect of childhood trauma on leadership. The writer has done extensive research in the area to bring to the comprehension of readers and other researchers on the subject in this article. However, there is room for future research to throw more light on precisely, how different forms of childhood trauma implicitly shapes the world view of each victim who are executives and leaders in organizations. It is also vital to ascertain triggers and stressors that are activated in the development of these leadership values across cultures around the globe if possible a selected culture on their perception of childhood trauma and how it affects leadership development in the later years. In addition, a deeper dive into how childhood trauma is perceived and rated by different cultures of the world and how each experience affects the leaders, and if the values that have been inculcated in them as childhood trauma survivors have molded them in their roles as leaders in their spheres of life. A problem of concept that the writers did not address is the relationship that exists between the individuals that administer the trauma and their victims in the later years. There is the need for extensive research and discussion into that area to establish caches of protocols and values that may be activated and a better way to effectively deal with that phenomenon. In another domain, how does childhood trauma foster resilience in leaders, and how does this influence decision-making, followers, and development in the setting of an organization? A study of how leaders who are victims of childhood trauma may be more prone to resilience and generate confidence among leader-follower perspectives and the effect on decision-making. Academicians interested in the psycho-social leadership traits and behavior theories may also be interested in ascertaining whether leaders who have histories of childhood trauma are more effective in responding to instances of abuse in and around their organizations. From this vantage, further research could look into how confident, ethical, and emotionally stable are leaders in organizations who have histories of childhood trauma. Similarly, further research that looks at the circumstances the values and behaviors of leaders are actually developed or executed will help researchers develop more accurate descriptions about leader behaviors and develop a basis for research measuring the differences between leaders who were victims of childhood trauma compared to those who do not have such a history. For instance, how do leaders with a history of childhood trauma enact empathy? How do leaders react to emotional changes in members of the organizations? Finally, developing a better sense of how individual children process trauma and their outcome or influence on their leadership style in the later years will provide a great opportunity to fill a gap in understanding the role of leaders in organizations as well as their options. This research will bring new dimension to understanding organizational behavior and decision-making processes. It will also help open the doors to a greater understanding of leadership development in which leader-follower and collaborative relationships are increasingly required to attain maximum organizational results and outcomes by directing organizational culture and engagement.

9. Summary and Implications

According to the result of the theoretical frame for the study, childhood trauma in the selected leaders (Oprah Winfrey, Malala, and Tyler Perry) turned out to be transformational and motivational in their respective domains. Oprah Winfrey asserts that sharing the truth with others is freeing and uplifting. She believes no one should allow the past to define them, and points to her own life as validation of that view (Mair, 1994).

Leadership is first and foremost a relationship, and relational traumas affect our ability to work with and lead others (Schore, 2009). In the case of the three subjects of this study, they succeeded in finding a positive connection between their traumatic pasts and their motivational and creative careers.

Leaders who experienced childhood trauma have exhibited the impact it had on them from the place it all began to where they are, leading other sufferers to wholeness, to prevent future tragedies of their own (Fazio, 2009). In our world today, most leaders who went through a traumatic experience have been left with their personal choice to either turn their pain to gain for the interest of others or remain in the state of trauma. Trauma-inspired children who have risen as leaders have used the dark side of their experiences to find a wider way of escape for others in similar situations thereby contributing to making an impact and creating awareness of a possible breakthrough amidst trauma.

Survivors like Jena Robert Cadet founded an organization to abolish the practice of childhood slavery and trafficking that he went through in Haiti (Cadet & Luken, 2011). Another example is the incident of a traumatic loss that was referenced as the inspiration behind the foundation of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and numerous parent-led organizations (Frazier et al., 2013). Although there is no simple answer to the question of how to evaluate the nexus between Childhood trauma and leadership, the three leaders who were the subjects of this study have demonstrated that positive and motivational outcomes could still be the results of such negative effects (Frazier et al., 2013).

Malala’s outspoken nature didn’t change; in fact, it might have been exacerbated—when a masked gunman nearly took her life by shooting her in the face in 2012. Since then, she has won numerous international accolades, written a book, and is even more engaged and outspoken for the rights of the female child (Malala & Lamb, 2013). Tyler Perry suffered brutal physical abuse while growing up at the hands of several adults. Sometimes all he had as a defensive mechanism was his mind and his imagination. Today he is a creative force in Hollywood with many movies and plays created by him.

The questions remain, given the numerous negative effects of childhood trauma (Cohen & Mannarino, 2015), is there a reliable connection between these childhood events and the emergence of motivational leaders? Of course, prevention of such difficult experiences would be ideal, but what of those that have already occurred? Is there a system to consistently maneuver these unfortunate events into positive outcomes?

Analysis of the data seems to point in that direction but give the very nature of traumatic experiences and the stigma attached to them.

This has far-reaching effects for future research on the subject; it could lead to more emergent leaders being more willing to be open about their traumas showing how they helped who they eventually became; it could offset the balance in the right direction of cases of childhood trauma who end up with debilitating disorders; it could lead to more motivational leaders who don’t turn out to be budding narcissist and/or sociopaths (Grohol, 2015).

NOTES

1https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oprah-Winfrey

2https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/malala-yousafzai

3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Perry

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

References

[1] Buneri, S. (2011). Dancing Girls of the Swat Valley. World Policy Journal, 28, 73-81.
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/450574/summary
[2] Cadet, J. R., & Luken, J. (2011). My Stone of Hope: From Haitian Slave Child to Abolitionist. University of Texas Press.
https://doi.org/10.7560/728530
[3] Cherniss, C., Goleman, D., Emmerling, R., Cowan, K., & Adler, M. (1998). Bringing Emotional Intelligence to the Workplace (1-34). New Brunswick, Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, Rutgers University.
[4] Christensen, D. F. (2010). A Comparison of the Leadership Styles of Administrators in Charge of Scheduling in Missouri’s Secondary Schools (pp. 31-40). Doctoral Thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia.
https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/8286
[5] Clarke, S. (2013). Safety Leadership: A Meta-Analytic Review of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles as Antecedents of Safety Behaviors. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86, 22-49.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.2012.02064.x
[6] Cohen, J. A., & Mannarino, A. P. (2015). Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Traumatized Children and Families. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 24, 557-570.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2015.02.005
[7] D’Huyvetter, C., & Cogbill, T. H. (2014). A Novel Trauma Leadership Model Reflective of Changing Times. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 21, 103-108.
https://doi.org/10.1097/JTN.0000000000000043
[8] Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in Leader and Leadership Development: A Review of 25 Years of Research and Theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25, 63-82.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.004
[9] Edwards, V. J., Holden, G. W., Felitti, V. J., & Anda, R. F. (2003). Relationship between Multiple forms of Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Mental Health in Community Respondents: Results from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1453-1460.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.8.1453
[10] Engel, P. (2014, December 10). Malala Gives a Jaw-Dropping Speech to Accept Her Nobel Peace Prize. Business Insider.
http://www.businessinsider.com/malala-nobel-peace-prize-acceptance-speech-2014-12?IR=T
[11] Fazio, R. (2009). Growth Consulting: Practical Methods of Facilitating Growth through Loss and Adversity. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 532-543.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20590
[12] Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. L. (2005). The Victimization of Children and Youth: A Comprehensive, National Survey. Child Maltreatment, 10, 5-25.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559504271287
[13] Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R., & Hamby, S. L. (2009). Violence, Abuse, and Crime Exposure in a National Sample of Children and Youth. Pediatrics, 124, 1411-1423.
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-0467
[14] Francis East, J., & Roll, S. J. (2015). Women, Poverty, and Trauma: An Empowerment Practice Approach. Social Work, 60, 279-286.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swv030
[15] Frazier, P., Greer, C., Gabrielsen, S., Tennen, H., Tomich, P., & Park, C. (2013). The Relations between Trauma Exposure and Prosocial Behavior. Psychological Trauma: Theory Research, Practice and Policy, 5, 286-294.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027255
[16] Ganzel, B., & Morris, P. (2011). Allostasis and the Developing Human Brain: Explicit Consideration of Implicit Models. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 955-974.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579411000447
[17] Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., May, D. R., & Walumbwa, F. (2005). “Can you See the Real Me?” A Self-Based Model of authentic Leader and Follower Development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 343-372.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.003
[18] Garland, C. (2018). Thinking about Trauma. In Understanding Trauma (pp. 9-31). Routledge.
[19] Garson, H. S. (2011) Oprah Winfrey: A Biography (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO.
[20] Grohol, J. M. (2015). Differences between a Psychopath vs Sociopath. Psych Central.
https://wbphillipskhs.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/108004088/Differences%20Between%20a%20Psychopath%20vs%20Sociopath.docx
[21] Iodice, E. F. (2020). Education Meant Risking Her Life: A Young Girl’s Deadly Struggle to Learn. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 13, Article No. 14.
https://doi.org/10.22543/0733.131.1309
[22] Joseph, S., Murphy, D., & Regel, S. (2012). An Effective-Cognitive Processing Model of Post‐Traumatic Growth. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 19, 316-325.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.1798
[23] Kataoka, S., Langley, A. K., Wong, M., Baweja, S., & Stein, B. D. (2012). Responding to Students with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Schools. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 21, 119-113.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.08.009
[24] King, N. (1987). Everybody Loves Oprah! Her Remarkable Life Story. W. Morrow.
[25] Kramer, C. A. (2014). Changes in Military Leaders’ Transformational Leadership Styles after Trauma (pp. 33-44). Doctoral Dissertation, University of La Verne.
[26] Kramer, C. A., & Allen, S. A. (2018). Transformational Leadership Styles Pre- and Post-Trauma. Journal of Leadership Education, 17, 81-97.
https://doi.org/10.12806/V17/I3/R5
[27] Krippendorff, K. (2004). Reliability in Content Analysis: Some Common Misconceptions and Recommendations. Human Communication Research, 30, 411-433.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2004.tb00738.x
[28] Kumdi, M. W. (2017). The Influence of Corporate Culture on the Choice of Managerial Leadership Style: A Study of First Bank and Sterling Bank. International Journal of Social Sciences and Management Research, 3, 79-103.
[29] La Greca, A. M., Boyd, B. A., Jaycox, L. H., Kassam-Adams, N., et al. (2008). Children and Trauma: Update for Mental Health Professionals. Washington DC: APA Presidential Task Force on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma in Children and Adolescents.
[30] Leenstra, N. (2020). Trauma Leadership and ICU Shift-Handovers (pp. 21-46). University of Groningen.
[31] Levenson, J. (2017). Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice. Social Work, 62, 105-113.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swx001
[32] Lim, D., & DeSteno, D. (2016). Suffering and Compassion: The Links among Adverse Life Experiences, Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behavior. Emotion, 16, 175-182.
https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000144
[33] Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive Change Following Trauma and Adversity: A Review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11-21.
https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOTS.0000014671.27856.7e
[34] Mair, G. (1994). Oprah Winfrey: The Real Story. Birch Lane Press.
[35] Malala, Y., & Lamb, C. (2013) I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
https://malala.org
[36] Malizia, N. (2017). The Psychological Trauma in Children and Adolescents: Scientific and Sociological Profiles. Sociology Mind, 7, 11-25.
https://doi.org/10.4236/sm.2017.71002
[37] Metzler, M., Merrick, M. T., Klevens, J., Ports, K. A., & Ford, D. C. (2017). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Life Opportunities: Shifting the Narrative. Children and Youth Services Review, 72, 141-149.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.10.021
[38] Middleton, J., Harvey, S., & Esaki, N. (2015). Transformational Leadership and Organizational Change: How Do Leaders Approach Trauma-Informed Organizational Change… Twice? Families in Society, 96, 155-163.
https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.2015.96.21
[39] Mikhail, S. (2021). Trauma-Informed Organizational Leadership (pp. 18-39). Doctoral Dissertation, Royal Roads University (Canada).
[40] Nguyen, Q., Kuntz, J. R., Näswall, K., & Malinen, S. (2016). Employee Resilience and Leadership Styles: The Moderating Role of Proactive Personality and Optimism. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 45, 13-21.
[41] Perry, B. D., & Winfrey, O. (2021). What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. Macmillan.
[42] Prasad, B. D. (2008). Content Analysis. Research Methods for Social Work, 5, 1-20.
[43] Rivers, M. N. (2019). A Review of Autocratic, Paternalistic, and Charismatic Leadership in Three Collectivist Cultures. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 12, 68-104.
[44] Save the Children (2014). 2014 National Report Card on Protecting Children in Disasters.
http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74%7d/SC-2014 DISASTERREPORT.PDF
[45] Schmelzer, G. L. (2018). Journey through Trauma: A Trail Guide to the 5-Phase Cycle of Healing Repeated Trauma. Penguin.
[46] Schore, A. N. (2009). Attachment Trauma and the Developing Right Brain: Origins of Pathological Dissociation.
[47] Sedlak, A. J., Mettenburg, J., Basena, M., Peta, I., McPherson, K., & Greene, A. (2010). Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4) (p. 9). US Department of Health and Human Services.
https://doi.org/10.1037/e565022012-001
[48] Solaja, O. M., & Ogunola, A. A. (2016). Leadership Style and Multigenerational Workforce: A Call for Workplace Agility in Nigerian Public Organizations. Leadership, 21, 46-56.
[49] The Express Tribune (2012). ‘Radio Mullah’ Sent Hit Squad after Malala Yousafzai. The Express Tribune.
[50] The Oprah Winfrey Show (2010). Tyler Perry’s Traumatic Childhood.
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/tyler-perry-speaks-out-about-being-molested-and-the-aftermath/all
[51] Turner, H. A., Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Hamby, S., Leeb, R. T., Mercy, J. A., & Holt, M. (2012). Family Context, Victimization, and Child Trauma Symptoms: Variations in Safe, Stable, and Nurturing Relationships during Early and Middle Childhood. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82, 209-219.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01147.x
[52] Turner, J. & Marvin, S. (2008). What Can We Learn from Senior Leader Narratives? The Strutting and Fretting of Becoming a Leader. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 29, 376-391.
https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730810876168
[53] VanderPal, G., & Brazie, R. (2022). Exploratory Study of Polyvagal Theory and Underlying Stress and Trauma That Influence Major Leadership Approaches.
[54] Vasterling, J. J., Daly, E. S., & Friedman, M. J. (2011). Posttraumatic Stress Reactions over Time: The Battlefield, Homecoming, and Long-Term Course. In J. I. Ruzek, P. P. Schnurr, J. J. Vasterling, & M. J. Friedman (Eds.), Caring for Veterans with Deployment-Related Stress Disorders (pp. 35-55). American Psychological Association.
https://doi.org/10.1037/12323-002
[55] Westall, S. (2015). Nobel Winner Malala Opens School for Syrian Refugees. Reuters.
[56] Yates, T. M., Tracy, A. J., & Luthar, S. S. (2008). Nonsuicidal Self-Injury among “Privileged” Youths: Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Approaches to Developmental Process. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 52-62.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.76.1.52
[57] Yoeli, R., & Berkovich, I. (2010). From Personal Ethos to Organizational Vision: Narratives of Visionary Educational Leaders. Journal of Educational Administration, 48, 451-467.
https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231011054716
[58] Yun, S., Faraj, S., & Sims Jr., H. P. (2005). Contingent Leadership and Effectiveness of Trauma Resuscitation Teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1288-1296.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1288

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.