The characteristics and behaviors of "highly successful" public school principals as measured by their school's student test performance are explored in this study. The qualitative research model described by Collins in his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't (Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2001) is drawn on as a paradigm is explored for successful principal leadership grounded in his research on successful private sector leadership.
This investigation grew out of a concern that many current formal administrator preparation programs have not adequately prepared our school leaders. Findings from this research will be useful for reconstructing educational administration programs to be more effective in preparing principals for their work.
Six "highly successful" principals and five "comparison" principals were selected from San Diego, Orange, and Riverside County schools for participation based on their California Academic Performance Index Similar Schools rankings and their length of tenure at their school. The research questions examined through semi-structured interviews of the participating principals were: (1) Are the characteristics and behaviors of highly successful principals in public schools similar to those of Collins' great private sector CEOs? Are there other distinguishing characteristics and behaviors of highly successful principals? Are they different from other principals? (2) What educational and/or life experiences have had a positive influence on school principals' leadership abilities?
Results of the study established that in no case during the course of the interview conversations did a given principal reveal all of the characteristics and behaviors of the successful private sector leaders as defined by Collins. However, when analyzing all six of the highly successful principals as a group, evidence for all of Collins' Level 5 leadership characteristics and behaviors was found. One other important highly successful principal behavior surfaced as well: a capacity for building relationships. Areas explored with respect to developing leadership ability elicited evidence that the highly successful principals readily identified a person as a mentor to them and described life experiences that helped shape their leadership ability. Responses to questions about the value of administrator preparation programs varied among the principals interviewed.
