Leadership Traits of Superintendents in a Rural, Midwest State: Perceptions of School Board Presidents and Superintendents

Perhaps no relationship is as crucial for practicing superintendents as the relationship with their school board presidents. This study examined which leadership traits of superintendents were most important according to superintendents and school board presidents in a rural state in the Midwest.

A researcher-developed survey studied how important each of eight traits were to the two groups on a Likert scale, as well as how both groups ranked the eight traits. Both groups found trustworthiness and communication competence to be most important, and intelligence to be the least important of the eight traits in this study. The traits in the middle varied in importance depending upon which group was ranking them and on the size of the school districts.