This exploratory quantitative study, whose population consisted of full-time faculty at a Midwestern state university, measures perceptions of the degree of essentiality of ten elements of effective leadership, and whether or not those perceptions were significantly different across generational cohort (baby boomer, GenX, and millennial) and/or biological sex (male, female). Current literature on generational cohort/gender and perceptions of effective leadership is equivocal at best. This study attempted to fill gaps in existing literature, as applied to faculty in higher education contexts. The essential elements of leadership identified for this study were: influence, promoting teamwork, change facilitation, authority, collaborative dialogue, risk-taking, followership, emotional intelligence, ethical behavior, and self-awareness. A survey of full-time faculty members (n=105) at a state comprehensive university revealed self-awareness, ethical behavior, and promoting teamwork as being most essential, while risk-taking, use of authority, and influence were identified as least essential. Additionally, the only element that produced a significant interaction effect was influence. These findings suggest that generational cohort and biological sex have an extraordinarily minor impact on faculty perceptions of the essential elements of leadership, which is counter to existing literature and suggests a trend towards broad congruence in perceptions about leadership across sex and generations
