The intent of this mixed methods explanatory sequential study was to explore the relationship between personal resilience and leadership behaviors practiced by director-level leaders of sponsored program offices across the United States. The study obtained quantitative results from surveying 250 director-level leaders of sponsored program offices, members of the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), and then followed up with eight purposefully selected participants to explore those results in more depth.  The 45-point Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and the 10-point Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) were administered as part of an online survey. The results of the quantitative phase showed that a moderately strong positive correlation existed between transformational leadership and resilience among director-level leaders of sponsored program offices suggesting that as resilience increased so did transformational leadership qualities. Five main themes were identified in the qualitative phase involving semi-structured interviews with eight participants: 1) stressful and challenging work environment; 2) resilience as a capacity; 3) learning from role models; 4) leading the way participants want to be led; and 5) associations between resilience and leadership behaviors. A common theme among participants was that a strong leader is resilient and practices compassion, empathy, and active listening, openness to new ideas, and process improvement mind-set, and encourages critical thinking. This research contributes to new knowledge in human resource development, specifically in research administration.  Implications and recommendations for practice are provided.