Public education in Sweden and the United States has long been viewed as a critical social investment that fires the engines of economic productivity and social progress. This paper presents the findings of two studies that examined superintendents' self-descriptions of their administrative work, particularly in the areas of instructional leadership and curriculum. Data were gathered through a survey of 397 superintendents in Wisconsin and 280 superintendents in Sweden, which equals 74 percent of all superintendents in Sweden and 81 percent of district administrators in Wisconsin. The data found similar distributions of superintendents acting as instructional supporters, delegators, collaborators, and visionaries in both groups. Both groups of superintendents shared experiences and beliefs about their primary leadership responsibilities and activities in their districts. Communications, public relations, legal and political issues, and facilities management were important and time-consuming tasks of Wisconsin superintendents but not for their Swedish counterparts. Wisconsin superintendents reported that they were no longer the "expert" educators; Swedish superintendents tended to view themselves as supporters, managers, and delegators, rather than as hands-on instructional leaders. Instructional leadership was more prevalent in Wisconsin than in Sweden. Respondents in both countries reported discrepancies between their most important responsibilities and the time spent on actual tasks, recognized the need to adjust their traditional sources of power, and viewed budget and finance as their most important and time-consuming administrative task. Seven tables are included. (Contains 29 references.) (LMI)