This study investigated the alignment between Texas superintendents' perceptions of the necessary professional characteristics of principals through the hiring process and the ELCC principal standards and the Texas principal certification standards. Texas superintendents were surveyed and interviewed to create a framework comparing their market-driven views with the standards guiding principal preparation. The study determined that superintendents often sought characteristics that lay just outside the domain of the formal standards, such as moral purpose, trustworthiness, and "fit." Incorporating the superintendents' views into principal preparation program planning has important implications for programs in terms of producing qualified, effective, marketable, and ultimately employable principal candidates.