Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the role of hope in superintendents' leadership. This exploration included determining the existence of hope in superintendents and its manifestation in their leadership behaviors. This study provides an opportunity for school district leaders to determine if there is a need for hope in leading and embracing the future of education. Conceptual Framework. Snyder et al.'s (1991) hope theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. Hope is defined as a cognitive act that includes the constructs of goals, agencies, pathways, and overcoming barriers. These constructs link the elements of the research process to the role of hope in the leadership behaviors of superintendents. Methodology. This multicase qualitative study explored the contemporary phenomenon of hope in the leadership of 10 public school superintendents. This study was not bound by site or district (Yin, 2017). Purposeful sampling was used to recruit acting public school superintendents in Southern California with a minimum of 3 years experience. A modified Future Scale and semi-structured interviews were utilized. Findings. The findings indicated that all 10 superintendents were hopeful leaders. Further analysis identified hopeful leadership behaviors through the lens of Snyder et al.'s (1991) definition and constructs of hope and included grit, perseverance, optimism, and resilience. Leaders' behaviors influenced the organization's success in goal attainment and demonstrated a contagion effect on the organization. Evidence of hope as a personality trait emerged. Conclusions and Recommendations. The behaviors of hopeful leaders aligned with Snyder et al.'s (1991) constructs. These behaviors included setting optimistic goals, holding a core belief in the future, having the perseverance, resilience, and passion needed to overcome barriers and building efficacy to make their hope for the organization a reality. Recommendations include the need for education to empower optimistic leaders with hope for the organization and its students, training on operationalizing hope through the engagement of the constructs and seeking hopeful leaders when hiring. Future research on educational leadership and hope should include determining hope's impact on the organization, investigation of the contagion effect and examination of hope as a personality trait.