Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test an innovative model for exploring the direct and indirect relationships between principals' cognitive complexity (CC), schools' absorptive capacity (ACAP), a teacher's affective commitment and a teacher's intent to leave. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from a survey of 1,664 teachers at 107 Arab elementary schools, randomly selected from the database of the Israeli educational system. To test the proposed model, multilevel structural equation modeling was conducted. Findings: The analysis confirmed that schools' ACAP and a teacher's affective commitment are prominent mediators between principals' CC and a teacher's intent to leave. Practical implications: Understanding the factors that contribute to a teacher's intent to leave could help school principals and policy makers retain effective teachers in today's schools. Originality/value: This study adds to the body of research directed at identifying school principals' characteristics, as well as work-related factors, which may decrease a teacher's intent to leave and are amenable to leadership intervention.