This qualitative descriptive study explores school leaders as the catalyst for whole school environments. Creating whole school environments involves whole leaders, which takes recognition of feelings of burnout and enacting mindfulness based interventions along with emotional intelligence skills. 12 school leaders participated in this study that focused on their described effects and recognition of emotional intelligence (EI), and feelings of burnout, as it relates to school retention. This research reviews existing literature, school leaders' interviews, and The Assessing Emotions Scale to examine how emotional intelligence and mindfulness influence the experience of burnout in educational leadership roles. Findings suggest that high levels of emotional intelligence exist in school leaders' perceptions, where reality shows school leaders are mindfully burning out. With a whole school environment, with school leaders being at the forefront, school districts can support the growth of greater emotional intelligence skills aiding school leaders in being better equipped to manage stress, build resilient staff and students, and foster positive school climates all leading to greater retention rates of all, specifically school leaders. Implications for practice include the integration of emotional intelligence and mindfulness training into leadership development programs to mitigate burnout and enhance school leaders' retention. Future research should further investigate specific mindfulness-based interventions as they relate to EI growth that are most beneficial in reducing burnout and retention of school leaders. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]