To identify group leader cognitions and the role experience may play in leader cognitive schemas, 60 participants were placed in 1 of 3 groups on the basis of group-leading experience and were exposed to a 20-min videotape of a group session, during which they completed a thought-listing instrument. Two judges free sorted the 1,299 collected thoughts and identified and defined 17 distinct thought categories. Three trained judges then placed 1,271 (97.8%) of the thoughts into these categories. Differences among experience levels were also explored through correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses. Two thoughts, interpretation of group process and internal question regarding member, were found to account for 56% of the variance in experience level. Findings are discussed in terms of group leader cognitive processing, and suggestions for future research are provided