Research has shown that perceived stress with a supervisor affects the way in which intellectual abilities, experience, and task knowledge contribute to leadership performance. Stress with subordinates, as well as superiors, may affect the utilization of intelligence and experience in leadership tasks. Questionnaires measuring intelligence, experience, and interpersonal stress were completed by 136 fire department officers and performance evaluations were collected from each officer's immediate superior. Results indicated that lower level leaders' experience in the organization was critical in determining their performance under high stress, while higher level leaders' intelligence was the critical factor in their performance under stress. The moderating effects of stress were significant for interactions moderated by supervisor stress and by subordinate stress. The findings suggest that interpersonal stress with co-workers, not just stress with superiors, moderates experience and intelligence utilization. (Author/NRB)