This mixed method study used survey research, open-ended questions, and interviews to identify transformational leadership qualities among principals of publicly funded schools in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Five-hundred-nine teachers (37.7%) from a random sample of schools in the province completed the Multifactor leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1995; 2000), provided demographic information, and responded to four open-ended questions. Telephone interviews subsequently were conducted with selected teachers who had principals identified as being in the highest or lowest quartile of transformational leadership as determined by the MLQ. The Chi-Square-goodness-of-fit test was used to determine a normal distribution for the groups, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyze teacher ratings for principals on the variables of extra effort, effectiveness, and satisfaction. None of the differences could account for the variation in principal transformational leadership qualities. Qualitative interpretation of the open-ended responses and subsequent interviews allowed for concluding that teachers preferred school principals who displayed transformational leadership characteristics in the areas of idealized influence, individual consideration, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation. The educational importance of the information relates to administrator preparation, in-service development, teacher efforts, and student learning.