Understanding high school student leaders, I: Predicting teacher ratings of leader behavior

We describe the first stage of a longitudinal research program concerned wi th the prediction, understanding, and durability of early displays of leade rship behavior. The predictability of teachers' ratings of leadership behav ior for 242 high school students was explored with respect to predictors fr om the following construct domains: personality, interests, motivation, beh avior, self-rated skills, and academic ability. Results revealed that varia bles from each construct domain significantly and consistently predicted le adership ratings for as long as 12 months after the collection of the predi ctor data. In addition, the linear combination of predictors from different domains yielded strong prediction of leadership, with R(2)s in the .40 ran ge. Evidence also showed that both academic ability and the other measured constructs contributed unique variance to the prediction of leadership beha viors as reported by the teachers. These exploratory findings are discussed in light of a continuing research program designed to develop a more compr ehensive understanding of the origin, development, and emergence of adult l eadership behavior.