The increase of intense pressures to ensure long-term education reforms have created a challenge for school leaders as they direct and nurture the abilities of others. The purpose of this research was to understand and describe suburban elementary principals' practices and perceptions as change leaders related to capacity building through the leadership categories of setting directions, developing people, redesigning the organization, and managing the instructional program and subsequently how the principals reacted to the changing environment within the reciprocal effects model. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How do elementary school principals who have led sustainable school improvement initiatives build capacity in their schools? (2) What experiences have shaped these elementary school principals' leadership related to building capacity? and (3) How do these elementary school principals' capacity building practices align with the reciprocal effects model?