Challenging and Supporting New Leader Development

The purpose of this article is to explore the kinds of support and challenge that new school leaders need in the early years of their career. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and appreciative inquiry were used to collect the stories of new school leaders. The study outlined the kinds of support that were productive in helping school principals learn their craft and shape their leadership style. The project enriches the literature on mentoring by providing the voices of new school leaders to add depth to the characteristics of successful mentoring programs.