Featured Research New School Counselors’ Perceptions of Factors Influencing Their Roles as Leaders Dawn M. Robinson 1 , Erin C. M. Mason 2 , H. George McMahon 3 , Lea R. Flowers 4 , and Ariel Harrison 5 Abstract This qualitative study explored the experiences of new school counselors in establishing themselves as leaders in their schools. Specifically, it focused on factors this population perceives as promoting or impeding their role as leaders. We interviewed 12 participants in their first through third year as school counselors. Four themes emerged from the data including intrapersonal factors, sociocultural factors, systemic factors, and interactive factors. We discuss implications for counselor educators, district supervisors, and school counselors. Keywords leadership, school counselors, race, sociocultural factors, systemic factors In 2003, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) published the ASCA National Model, a comprehensive model created to serve as a framework for assisting school counselors in meeting the needs of all students in their school commu- nities. One integral element of this model is that it identifies leadership as an essential role for school counselors (ASCA, 2003, 2005, 2012; House & Hayes, 2002). The role of a leader for school counselors includes working collaboratively within the school community as an effective agent of change (ASCA, 2005; McMahon, Mason, & Paisley, 2009) through the use of data-driven school counseling programs and services that are communicated to stakeholders (ASCA, 2012). As a direct result of the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (Education Trust, 2009) and the ASCA National Model, many school counselor training programs have imple- mented awareness, knowledge, and skills in preparing future school counselors for roles as leaders within schools and com- munities. This movement has been supported by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs standards (House & Hayes, 2002). Recent school counseling graduates are now expected to understand their roles as leaders within their future jobs in the school setting (ASCA, 2012, 2016). However, many new school counselors may experience challenges as they attempt to assume these roles due to uncertainty about what it means to be a leader in one’s school and lack of specific skills needed to be an effec- tive leader (Mason & McMahon, 2009). Although professional literature across various disciplines has discussed leadership, much about this concept is still ambiguous (Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta, 2016). Within the field of leadership and organizational behavior, Denhardt, Denhardt, and Aristigueta (2016) suggest that the concept of leadership has become “one of the most widely debated, but least clearly understood concepts in the study of public and private organizations these days” and “no one seems exactly sure what constitutes leadership, where it comes from, or how it might be developed” (p. 179). Previous definitions of leader- ship considered this concept from a hierarchical standpoint, in which a leader was viewed primarily as someone who performs certain tasks as they direct other individuals. Due to changes in our society, the definition of leadership and the idea of what makes an effective leader has evolved to reflect leadership as a process that involves “mutual interaction” between individuals 1 Department of Social Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA 2 Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA 3 Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA 4 Atlanta, GA, USA. 5 School of Counseling and Human Services, Walden University, Atlanta, GA, USA Corresponding Author: Dawn M. Robinson, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS, Department of Social Sciences, University of South Carolina Beaufort, One University Boulevard, Bluffton, SC 29909, USA. Email: dawnrobi@uscb.edu Professional School Counseling Volume 22(1): 1-15 ª 2019 American School Counselor Association Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/2156759X19852617 journals.sagepub.com/home/pcx