About the Book
Born out of decades of research and collaboration, Relational Leader explores how relationships shape leadership and change in schools and systems. In their opening chapter, editors Yi-Hwa Liou and Alan J. Daly trace the landscape of educational leadership through a social network lens, inviting us to see leadership not as an individual trait, but as a web of connections that carry knowledge, trust, and energy across organizations.
The book brings together 32 distinguished scholars from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and the USA, who share a common belief: that meaningful and lasting change is built on the strength of relationships. Across these diverse contexts, contributors show how relational leadership can address pressing challenges of equity, inclusion, and sustainability. Together, these voices weave a rich tapestry of perspectives on networks and leadership for change.
In their concluding reflections, Liou and Daly return to the central theme of “growing social roots.” They remind us that networks are not abstract diagrams but lived connections—bonds of trust, care, and shared purpose that sustain communities of learning. The book closes with a call for building “critical network literacy” and a relational agenda for leadership that is attentive to equity, justice, and the interconnected world in which schools now exist.
More than a collection of studies, Relational Leader tells the story of a field in motion. It honors the past decade of social network research in education and charts a hopeful future in which leaders intentionally design and nurture the relationships that enable educational systems—and the people across them—to thrive.
Yi-Hwa Liou and Alan Daly have created a compelling case for network literacy and associated intentional leadership action. Frequently drawing on fresh insights from doctoral research, the book contains valuable messages for school and system leaders, researchers, policy makers and educational partners.
About the Editors
Yi-Hwa Liou is Professor in the Department of Educational Management at the National Taipei University of Education. Her work is animated by a deep commitment to understanding how leaders and organizations grow together through networks of trust, learning, and collaboration. Drawing on her expertise in social network analysis, she has partnered with international teams across diverse regions of the world to study how relationships shape educational change. For Liou, networks are not only research tools but living systems—evidence of how people connect to create sustainable and equitable futures in education.
Alan J. Daly is Professor and Director of the Joint Educational Leadership doctoral program at the University of California, San Diego. Before entering higher education, he spent 16 years as a public school teacher and administrator, experiences that continue to ground his scholarship in the daily realities of schools. His research explores leadership, policy, and the power of social networks to support transformation. Daly’s work, including his book Social Network Theory and Educational Change (Harvard Education Press), has helped shape a generation of scholars and practitioners who view relationships as the heart of systemwide improvement.
Together, Liou and Daly bring a shared vision: that leadership is not the act of individuals standing apart, but the practice of communities weaving their futures together. Their work has inspired colleagues around the world to see educational networks not simply as structures, but as lifelines of possibility and hope.