Principals are considered the leaders in our schools (Acker-Hocevar, Cruz-Jansen, & Wilson, 2012; Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012). Unfortunately, with the focus in the past decade on high stakes testing and the demand for principals to be instructional leaders, many new principals do not make it past the first one or two years on the job (Herman, Gates, Chavez-Herrerias, & Harris, 2016). Early-career principals making it the fourth year on the job are more likely to stay in the profession (Hall, 2008). Research studies support the importance of having a skilled and talented principal influencing student success and the effectiveness of teachers (Mitgang, Gill, & Cummins, 2013; Branch, Hanushek, & Rivkin, 2012). However, few studies have been done to determine the needs of the early-career elementary principal during the first three years on the job. Often these first-time principals are hired and given the keys to the building without any formal program or support for transitioning (Johnson, Kaufman, & Thompson, 2016). The leadership support and socialization support needed by new elementary principals during the first three years on the job remains a gap in the literature. This research explored how 10 elementary principals successfully working on the job in a fourth year of a first elementary principalship described their leadership development and socialization experiences from their first three years on the job. Understanding the leadership development and socialization experience of these principals led to the development of the St. Amour Model for Elementary Principal Induction, a research supported model. Thirteen elementary school principals with four to seven years on the job participated in semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Questions related to their experiences with leadership development and socialization development. Qualitative analysis techniques were used to determine the major themes. Study findings developed through the analysis of themes from leadership development and socialization development experiences shared by the elementary school principals in the study. Major findings included: Early-career elementary principals need mentoring, peer networking, professional development, and resiliency. Early-career elementary principals need to understand the stages of organizational socialization, and school districts need to provide support to early-career elementary principals as they transition from outsider to insider. Based on the major findings of this study, there are implications for leadership and education, theory, elementary principals, and a model for elementary principal induction. Implications for leadership and education focused on preparing preservice elementary principals to be resilient leaders and education implications support early-career principals as resilient leaders. The organizational socialization theory is presented as a foundation for this research, yet it became a valuable component of the findings. The implications for elementary principals considers peer-networking, mentoring and professional development. Finally, the analysis of the lived experiences of the elementary principals in this study provides the data to formulate the St. Amour Model for Elementary Principal Induction, a research supported model for elementary principal induction. [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.]