Leadership of colleges and universities poses problems for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the President. Ambiguous constituencies and the pull of various support groups inside and outside the institution present continual dilemmas for each academic CEO. Two instances of academic leadership are presented that compare and analyze the styles of two presidents against a backdrop of the relevant literature. These two case studies of leadership are used to examine in depth the variables that influence the emergence of leadership styles. A framework for distinguishing leadership from management is developed from a synthesis of literature from various academic disciplines. The situational imperatives of the organization, coupled with the CEO's ability to develop supportive relationships and the form that these relationships take, is found to have a decided impact on the success of the emergent leadership style. Contains 14 references. (KM)