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Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance
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I'm conducting my Ph.D dissertation research on how ultra endurance athletes develop self-leadership habits that they apply to executive leadership pursuits. Ultra endurance is defined as foot races longer than a marathon, IM triathlon of any brand, multi day stage races, adventure races, swims longer than a 10km, etc, for the purposes of this research. I'm using a mixed methods approach, utilizing a quantitative measure to assess self-leadership followed by a qualitative interview. The questions are focused the lived experiences of the athlete and how these experiences have shaped their habits. No questions pertain to training, racing, professional, or trade secrets.

I'm posting this in the women's forum because I am looking for women who are both ultra endurance athletes and executive leaders. Right now my population is all male. I don't want diversity for the sake of diversity. Women and men lead differently based on personality and brain physiology. I'd like to explore these differences in my research and balance the results. Likewise, I'm really curious about how training and racing shapes habits for men and women. Do similar experiences yield similar results?

If you are interested or have any questions, please send me a PM. I can provide academic and professional references as needed.

Thank you in advanced.
Andrew
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [alaska848] [ In reply to ]
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Try contacting Christie Wellington on twitter she is well connected in this community and it is a subject close to her heart.

She also did an ultra a couple of months ago!
Last edited by: Stumps: Oct 31, 17 15:01
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [Stumps] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks! I took your suggestion and reached out through her website. Don't have a twitter account...probably should have asked my teenager...
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [alaska848] [ In reply to ]
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Hillary Biscay and Marilyn Chychota would also be excellent people to contact.

https://twitter.com/chychota?lang=en

https://twitter.com/hillarybiscay?lang=en

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [alaska848] [ In reply to ]
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How are you defining "executive leader"?
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks! I'll reach out to both.
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Re: Ph.D Dissertation Research Assistance [140.6chick] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for asking; I should have elaborated on that in my initial post. The short answer is "it depends". I start with the Bureau of Labor Statistics characteristics: at least a bachelor's degree, earn $104k per year or higher, 5-7 years professional experience (including education) and hold a generally accepted C-suite type position (CEO, CFO, COO, etc).

From there I apply the following (again from BLS), "executives devise strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. They plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities of companies and organizations" to determine if a person can be considered an executive. There is some discretion on my part and if I'm unsure I defer to my committee chair for guidance.

I do keep the definition rather broad as I found when doing my research it is nearly impossible to have one complete definition of "executive leader" once you move out of the business realm. For example, if you are a lead education planner at a school or college, you are planning and implementing policies that help an organization achieve its goals along with being responsible for dozens of people. In the military, a captain is a company (junior/mid grade) officer but can be responsible for over 200 people, millions of dollars worth of equipment and a large geographic area. Compare that to a lead surgeon in a cardiac unit with a handful of folks on their team but still massive amounts of responsibility.

If you don't mind or are curious, please feel free to PM me. Thanks again!
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