As schools redefine their role to include the social-emotional needs of students, it is imperative that they simultaneously reflect on the adults in the building and the way that they embody and model the traits they are hoping to instill in students. This exploratory qualitative study looks specifically at the way that school leaders perceive and model emotional vulnerability in a school setting as a means for encouraging staff and students to be vulnerable themselves. Emotional vulnerability is a person's willingness to share his or her true emotions such as sadness, frustration, and guilt. Emotional vulnerability can lead to improving social connections, building trust, increasing creativity and enhancing well-being -- all goals of a rich social-emotional education. The research uses a social cognitive theory lens to understand how school leaders' emotional vulnerability can influence the school community. Illustrative vignettes gathered using the critical incident technique with leaders and teachers serve as models of the emerging themes of emotional vulnerability in school leaders and its impact on the school community. The themes that emerged include 1) emotional vulnerability as a 'secret ingredient' to more commonly researched emotional skills, 2) a need for leaders to adjust to the changing role of emotions in schools and 3) social cognitive theory as a framework to understand ways that school leaders' emotional vulnerability can influence the school community. It is suggested that further research and leadership training is needed to better understand emotional vulnerability in a school setting; but for it to be put into practice, we must create a culture and lexicon in which it is accepted, valued, acknowledged and encouraged. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]