Colleges have a critical investment in the proper selection of key executive administrative positions with high quality leadership and character since leadership transitions can be unsettling and costly, and governing boards have a vested interest in getting it right. The problem is that two-year colleges are facing a strategic planning crisis because administrators fail to align the mission statement with a succession plan, leaving colleges struggling to plan for replacing key administrative positions. This qualitative case study analyzed the best strategy for the selection process of executive college administrative positions, specifically the Vice President of Human Resources. This study was undertaken because of the limited research on the ways in which college mission statements can guide the strategic succession planning for executive administrative positions. The study employed a purposive sample of six human resource college administrators, and utilized multiple data sources: person-to-person interviews, focus group interview, and the Personal Assessment of the College Environment (PACE) Survey. The results of this study provided knowledge to academic administrators on the value of recognizing that a mission statement must guide succession planning for effective leadership development. Future research could utilize a larger sample of two-year colleges to strengthen generalizability of these findings. The integration of a multi-case/multi-site study into future research designs could improve the comprehensiveness nature of the results and allow for further comparative analysis between other two-year colleges. Knowledge derived from this study could contribute even more transparency in regard to the multitude of variables that contribute to the ways in which a two-year college mission statement guides the strategic succession plan for key administrative positions. [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/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]