People are not moved by logical appeals as much as by art, poetry, music, rituals, dance, and story-telling. Expressive activity evokes emotions, touches values, and creates a sense of community, resulting in a dialogue that runs much deeper than ordinary conversation. Deal provides numerous examples of leaders using symbolic activities. Another principal, leading an outdoor staff retreat, asked each teacher to write on a piece of wood a personal behavior or attitude he or she would give up to make the school a better place. Teachers read aloud what they had written, and then tossed the wood into a large bonfire, symbolically consuming the negativity.
Deal sees schools as being at an important crossroads.
Either they can continue to overemphasize efficiency and rationality, thereby exacting a heavy human toll, or they can regain a sense of spirit by allowing for imagination, playfulness, and celebration. Their particular concern is the split between the technical and symbolic dimensions of leadership. The technical dimension focuses on the rational, task-oriented side of leadership. As technical leaders, principals spend their time planning, coordinating, supervising, analyzing, and allocating resources. The symbolic dimension is oriented around organizational culture and meaning.