Physical fitness and the effectiveness of high school principals as perceived by superintendents

The purpose of this research was to determine effort of physical fitness on the leadership effectiveness of high school principals. Two hundred seventeen high school principals were surveyed to find out their level of physical fitness, with 123 responding. The principals' leadership effectiveness was then evaluated by their superintendents. The physically fit principals' leadership scores were then compared with the leadership scores of the physically unfit principals. A t-test showed that principals who were physically fit were significantly more effective leaders than principals who were not physically fit. An ANOVA also revealed that the difference between the leadership effectiveness of the two groups was significant at the .05 level. The fit leaders exercised 7.72 times per week and the unfit leaders exercised .11 times per week. Sixty-six per cent of the principals exercised at least three times a week, while 21 percent did no exercise at all. Most of the principals who exercised did some form of aerobic exercise, while only 33 per cent did any strength training. Eleven of the principals who returned the leadership instrument asked not to be evaluated on their leadership