Leading Outside the Box: Principal Engagement in Entrepreneurial Mindset in Their Leadership

Abstract

School principals commonly face a range of decision making that require creative or novel thinking, and these innovative thought processes align with a strong entrepreneurial mindset. We considered entrepreneurial mindset on a spectrum ranging from weak to strong as we empirically documented the entrepreneurial mindset of K-12 school principals. Using a survey, we gathered a combination of qualitative and quantitative data from 374 K-12 principals working in the south-central United States. We found those principals held a modest entrepreneurial mindset, and the mindset was predicted by age, the number of memberships to professional organizations, size of the school, and the academic performance of the school. Our findings have implications for K-12 principal preparation and practice.