Ada
Ada’s Coronation: An Allegory of the Significance of Leadership
Avis McGriff | 2022
Abstract
Leadership is a vital research topic. The significance of leadership has long been valued in many regards. Whether leadership is being examined from the vantage point of how leaders are developed or the emerging examinations of leadership models, leadership as a platform has been a subject of continual consideration. Exploring leadership through an allegorical journey promotes a deeper connection with leadership principles. As the reader is guided into the private spaces of a leader’s thoughts—namely, Queen Ada on the day of her Royal Coronation—the significance of leadership comes alive. Though Queen Ada is only twenty-five years old, she has recently ascended to the throne of the glorious Kingdom at Turnbough. The Coronation Ceremony is held eight months after Queen Ada’s ascension to the throne. She is a young Queen but has the support of her mother, The Queen Mother, to help develop Queen Ada as a good and wise leader. This allegory reveals critical principles associated with leadership development and leadership effectiveness. The major theme of Ada’s Coronation is the significance of leadership. The minor themes deal with aspects such as leadership succession, leadership effectiveness, and leadership development.
As Queen Ada contemplates being crowned at The Coronation Ceremony, she reflectively explores the encounters of influential people and impressionable situations that have shaped her life and leadership ideology. Queen Ada is the heir apparent to the throne of the glorious Kingdom at Turnbough. However, having this birthright has not impeded her from reverently considering what is required to become an exemplar, both as The Queen and as an effective leader. During Queen Ada’s reflective exploration of how she desires to lead and what it means to be an exemplar, she insightfully contemplates how to best impact her people, along with the likely effects of transforming the Kingdom for future global interactions. A primary objective of The Queen is to ensure the people of the Kingdom at Turnbough are secure and well engaged by the Parliament. Thus, Queen Ada must rightly ascertain the best practices in decision making, both in assessing how to best protect the interests of her people, and how to deal with positive and negative challenges to her decisions. This allegory follows Queen Ada’s contemplative journey from the dawning of the momentous day up to her entrance procession into the Royal Westheimer Cathedral to attend The Coronation Ceremony.
The second half of this book includes a vibrant discussion regarding the significance of leadership, answering the call of leadership, and how leadership is developed. Considering the traditional views of leadership, up to today’s extensive research of leadership topics, this conversation on leadership reveals a need for future research of this topic. Why is leadership significant? Since the historical inception of the roles of leaders, the concept of leadership has been recognized as the necessary placement of persons inclined to take charge and guide groups of followers. However, leadership has traditionally operated according to the status quo. Today’s call of leadership promotes using innovation and transformative change to positively influence people and provide for the future sustainability of the organization. When leadership is constantly developed, then effective engaging and collaborations occur, which ultimately enhances the relationships between leaders and followers. Indeed, effective leadership wisely seeks to develop members across the entire organization to identify and promote future leadership. The beneficial outcomes of effective leadership are enumerable. As this discussion of the significance of leadership elucidates, the timeless considerations of becoming effective in leading the organization are necessary for creating an emerging impact in today’s global organizations.
Keywords: Allegory, Effective Leadership, Leadership Succession, Leadership Development, Transformational Leadership