This study examined student-athletes' self-reported leadership ability and achieving styles. It analyzed leadership ability and achieving style preferences as they related to gender, class status, ethnicity, and sport classification: individual-sport vs. team-sport athletes. A paper and pencil survey consisting of a composite variable of six leadership-indicator items, and five demographic-indicator items accompanied the 45-item computerized L-BL Achieving Styles Inventory and analyzed the five research questions. The sample included 94 female and 142 male student-athletes competing for a NCAA Division II private University in the Northeast United States. The results indicated that student-athletes reported above average scores on the Leadership Ability Scale and their primary achieving style preferences were the direct achieving styles followed by the relational and instrumental domains respectively. No statistically significant differences were reported in leadership ability when modified by gender, sport classification, and ethnicity. However, when leadership ability was compared by class status, a statistically significant difference was reported between freshman and senior student-athletes. The study did report statistically significant preference among the male and female student-athletes, the individual and team sport students-athletes, among the ethnic groups, and the various classes with regard to achieving styles. Implications for enhancing student-athletes' leadership capacities are discussed as well as recommendations for future research. [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.]