ABSTRACTUNPACKING THE INVISIBLE: LEADER INNER EXPERIENCE IN THE RELATIONAL ECOSYSTEM Jeff Klein Sharon Ravitch This inquiry brings together theoretical understandings of the ways in which the leader’s inner experience (Barsade & Gibson, 2010) and set of relationships (Parker, et al, 2018) have influenced and shaped the development of a leadership development program situated in a university and has important implications for the current and future practice of organizational leaders and educational administrators. It will challenge long-held myths and beliefs about heroic leadership (Bennis & Townsend, 1989) and instead illuminate the myriad ways in which critical decisions are influenced by relational trust (Bryk & Schneider, 2004), emotions (Winkielman, et al, 2005), and organizational forces (Schein, 1985). This practitioner self-study employs autoethnographic methods (Chang & Bilgen, 2020; Chang, 2021), archival research (Bogdan & Bilken, 2006), and critical incident interviewing (Hughes, 2007) with key stakeholders to identify significant moments during my sixteen year tenure leading the organization. Throughout the study, I engage in a process of structured reflexivity (Ravitch & Carl, 2021) in order to understand the role of emotions, relationships, and organizational forces on the choices that I made and the arc of my own development as a leader. This study offers important theoretical and practical implications for organizational leaders who wish to build and grow their enterprise within a university or other complex environment, illuminating choices and processes that relate to educational leadership, group and organizational dynamics, emotional intelligence, and relationship science.