Jefferson, Anne,Fedrau-Ens, Carol.2009-03-252009-03-2519971997Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 58-10, Section: A, page: 3784.9780612219687http://hdl.handle.net/10393/9756http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-7952Chief Education Officers must understand and work within and beyond the complexities of their school systems. They must balance public policy functions with the administration of system business with the advancement of educational programs. They have responsibilities for forging and communicating shared values, goals, and meanings. CEOs work in dynamic, interactive contexts. The purpose of this study was to explore, through the investigation of a CEO in action, political and cultural aspects of leadership, their interconnections, and the personal lens through which a CEO filtered these aspects. The study undertook the investigation of two critical incidents. One explored the development, among four school districts, of the shared delivery of special education services. A second examined the establishment of an alternate, church-affiliated school within a public education system. CEO leadership in these incidents revealed interrelated themes of practice. One was the development of shared vision, out of the CEO's personal vision in one case and out of a CEO group vision in the other. Also important was the CEO's knowledge of the contexts in which he worked, that is, groups, events, and relationships among groups and events, and his use of this contextual knowledge. In both incidents, the CEO used similar interpersonal processes to bring about satisfactory resolutions. Interwoven through these themes was the CEO's attention to political and cultural aspects of leadership. Findings suggested that CEO leadership occurred within interactive contexts of internal and external forces which, at any given point, operated in supportive or constraintive ways. The study concluded that the concept of a personal aspect of leadership underlies a CEO's choices and ways in which political and cultural aspects were processed. The study supported the importance of context as part of what enabled the CEO to exercise leadership in the way he did during the incidents of the study.206 p.Education, Administration.Thesis