Currently, scholars and practitioners seek to improve leadership programs so that educational leaders can more effectively support adult development—especially since it is connected to improved student achievement. Interview findings presented here stem from a larger mixed methods study. This research investigated how a university course on leadership for adult development influenced participating leaders’ thinking and on-the-ground practices years after course completion. Findings describe students’ reported course learnings, ways that they translated learnings to practice, and obstacles that they still encounter. This investigation offers insight into how leadership coursework can help leaders support adult development in schools and build systemic and school structures that would better enable them to build capacity.

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This article extends mixed-methods longitudinal research with school and district leaders (2008–present) about their most pressing leadership challenges. Here—through in-depth, qualitative interviews—we explore how a subsample of 30 principals described and understood their internal experiences of addressing pressing challenges. More specifically, using an adaptive/ technical lens, social-emotional frameworks, and constructive-developmental theory, we illuminate how principals‘ social-emotional and developmental capacities influenced their leadership, and highlight findings with in-depth mini-cases. By focusing on the inner workings of principals’ leadership for managing change, this article offers implications for professional practice and school-wide change locally and globally, leadership preparation, policy, and future research.