The skills that academic leaders perceived to be essential to success in higher education administration were determined through a mail survey. Data were collected from 288 college presidents, academic vice presidents, and deans from state universities and land-grant colleges. It was found that the administrators needed to have strong skills in the communicative, human resource, planning, and self-awareness domains. The skills ranked most essential in the order of importance, include the following: (1) maintaining high standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity in implementing the institution's goals; (2) being honest, open, and dependable in dealing with subordinates; (3) possessing the ability to speak, read, write, and express thoughts in a clear, coherent manner; (4) demonstrating knowledge of institutional resources such as time, personnel, funds, and materials to implement programs; (5) being open to new ideas and suggestions and being able to adjust to meet new situations; (6) possessing stability and objectivity under stress; and (7) being able to respond quickly to unexpected events in large group meetings. Information is provided on the skills ranked least essential to higher education administration and the personal and professional characteristics of the respondents. (SW)