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Abstract<br/><br/>Adaptive leadership is a model focused on managing change and uncertainty. It emphasizes flexibility, active listening, continuous learning, and evolution to help organizations navigate both internal and external challenges in the educational environment. This descriptive- correlational study explored the adaptive leadership, work stress, and performance of educational leaders. This study utilized two adopted questionnaire-checklists to gather the data. This descriptive-correlational study examined the adaptive leadership, work stress, and performance of educational leaders using two adapted questionnaire-checklists for data collection. The statistical tests used included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation for descriptive statistics, and One-way ANOVA and Pearson's r for inferential statistics, with a significance level of alpha 0.05 at two-tailed test.<br/><br/>The study found that the elementary school heads had a "high" level of adaptive leadership in engagement and collaboration, embracing uncertainties, flexibility, resilience, empowerment, and inclusion. The level of work stress of educational leaders was "high" in administrative constraints, administrative responsibilities, interpersonal relations intrapersonal conflict, and role expectation; and these school heads exhibited outstanding performance on their OPCRF.<br/><br/>Finally, a positive and significant relationship existed between adaptive leadership and work stress of public educational leaders in engagement and collaboration and administrative constraints. intrapersonal conflict, and role expectation; between flexibility and administrative constraints, administrative responsibilities, interpersonal relations, and intrapersonal conflict; between empowerment and interpersonal relations and intrapersonal conflict; and between inclusion and all the dimensions of work stress. No significant relationship was established between and among engagement and collaboration and administrative responsibilities; embracing uncertainties and all aspects of work stress; resiliency and all aspects of work stress; empowerment and administrative constraints and administrative responsibilities; and inclusion and all aspects of work stress. No significant relationship was found between all six domains of adaptive leadership and the performance of educational leaders, and in all five dimensions of work stress and the performance of the respondents.<br/><br/>Based on the foregoing findings, the researcher has crafted a Leadership Development Program aimed at strengthening adaptive leadership qualities as well as helping educational leaders cope with the inherent and emergent stressors in their work. The program centered on the dimensions or areas where they manifested the least adaptive leadership practice, such as in embracing uncertainties, and in aspects of work stress where they appeared to be most vulnerable to anxiety, such as administrative responsibilities. The program also took into consideration the areas where respondents manifested significant differences in their adaptive leadership and level of work stress. This proposed program is further aimed at helping educational leaders achieve better performance than what they have already achieved.<br/><br/>Keywords: adaptive leadership, work stress, and educational leaders |