The job of superintendent is tough and demanding. Although conditions seem to be getting worse, the job has always been demanding because of its origins and its relationship with the board of education. As the job developed, dominant conceptions of leadership developed. The three dominant conceptions--teacher-scholar, administrative chief, and negotiator-statesman-have waxed and waned as time passed, yet they are all still present. They arose from the nature of the superintendent-board relationship and from the competing role demands of that beset the superintendent who has to be chief executive, professional expert on education, advisor to the board, and supervisor. Practices and beliefs grew up around these leadership role conceptions that seemed to succeed in increasing the superintendent's prestige, salary, and tenure. However, the superintendent has always been circumscribed by a complex organizational role, the historical vulnerability of the position, and the particular set of larger environmental forces touching the local school system. This latter aspect was dominant during the 1960s. At a time when sharp external pressure strikes the schools, the leadership pattern with the strongest survival power is the negotiator-statesman. (Author/IRT)