The purpose of this case study was to determine the factors that influence leadership behaviors that contribute to superintendent longevity through the perceptions of school board members and the superintendent. This was an exploratory study into the context of one community, one 20-year superintendent, and the leadership factors and behaviors that have contributed to his long-tenure. The overarching questions for this study were why and how; why did the superintendent choose to stay in one district, and how he was able to stay that district for 20 years.

Although there have been several large-scale studies about superintendent tenure and superintendent turnover, little research identifies the specific, individual leadership behaviors of superintendents who maintain tenure in the same school district for long periods. The data in this study were collected through interviews, observations, and public documents. All of the interview data and observation data were analyzed with the NVIVO program. In order to increase the validity and the reliability of the data collected, interview and observational data were triangulated with public documents. Triangulation of the data provided the researcher with recurrent themes and descriptions of leadership behaviors of this long-tenured superintendent through the perceptions of school board members and the superintendent.

What the researcher found in this study was that it is difficult to separate the person from the superintendent; consequently, it is also difficult to separate the factors from the behaviors. However, in this ever-changing, highly complex world of education, superintendents need to be able to meet the political and instructional needs of the school board members and the community they represent. While this study was highly situated in one school district, the findings can be applied to other school district settings.