In this self-study, three female administrators in varied roles in public education explored how they navigated their lives as novice administrators. They grappled with the difference between administering and leading. They approached their work through a social constructivist theoretical lens and self-study methodology. They created journals and held monthly meetings to make meaning of their experiences. Through the process they 1) noticed feeling discomfort between their daily tasks and their perception of leadership, 2) identified types of tasks conceptualized as "technical" in nature (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002), and 3) began to see when they were enacting adaptive leadership while completing technical tasks.