Leadership Resiliency with Rural Superintendents

Abstract

This descriptive case study examined the factors that contribute to rural superintendents’ early departure into retirement and examines leadership resiliency and the challenges that the administration faces in leadership roles with rural superintendents in Alabama. Leadership resiliency skills can be categorized into the following three skills sets: thinking skills, action skills, and capacity skills. These three major skills sets are subcategorized into twelve supporting skill sets that include understanding reality, envisioning future possibilities, values, efficacy, spirituality, support base, physical well-being, emotional well-being, perseverance, adaptability, courage, and personal responsibility. The primary participants selected for this study were thirteen superintendents located in school systems throughout southeast Alabama. The thirteen superintendents were selected from school systems that were classified as a rural school system. The thirteen superintendents of this study were allowed to share their experiences that provided insight to how leadership resiliency affects the level of success that they have experienced and reveals how resiliency affects hindering factors that could lead to an early departure from their leadership position. The researcher obtained data through written surveys, Leadership Resiliency Profile, and face-to-face interviews.