This autoethnography provides insights into the experiences of a first-year elementary school principal that led to a change in leadership style from an authoritarian style to a transformational leader. Discusses changes in the school to a more positive climate that had a more positive effect on learning and working environments. (Author/LRW)

Using Howard Gardner's concept of existential intelligence along with others such as Jerome Bruner, explores the psychology of spirituality and leadership. Describes how famous film director uses meditation in his work. Draws implications for educational leadership. (PKP)

Investigates the personality characteristics, leadership behaviors, and influence tactics of champions of technological innovations. Champions reported using transformative leader behaviors significantly more often than nonchampions. Formally appointing individuals to a project-championing role may undermine their intrinsic motivation and…

Most principals are either initiators, responders, or managers. Initiators seek out new information, take control of situations, and intervene to support teachers or correct problems. Responders ignore new information, have vague goals, and enact programs initiated by the central office. Manager principals have a hybrid style that generally…

Considers concept of corporate culture and discusses several values which can be considered when assessing corporate culture, and the "compatibility scales" used to measure them. Included are discussions of employee attitudes, work atmosphere, internal communications, management style, employment opportunity, stability, business ethics, corporate…

Community change requires a mindshift toward developing personal leadership skills and collaborative holistic organizational design. Examples from Asheville, North Carolina, illustrate that communities are a web of influence and interdependence in which collaboration requires transcending old ways of doing things. (SK)

Interviews with 39 vocational administrators and 73 instructors who worked with them revealed that successful administrators combined several forms of communication, used communication in a wide range of contexts, and integrated communication with a wide variety of leadership attributes. (SK)

Draws on a study of seven comprehensive high schools to examine how parents, pupils, and the local community view each schools' strengths. Factors affecting the community view of a particular school are background history, organization, community relationships, public relations policies, management style, and shared values. Reputation can lag many…

Examines how principals manage in situations that defy conventional administrative authority and methods. Fully 80% of the 30 Pennsylvania high school principals interviewed admitted using at least 1 micropolitical strategy, such as exchange theory, divide and conquer, information control, cooptation, displacement, and discretionary behavior. Most…

According to one study, hiring officials wishing to know administrator candidates' job skills cannot learn about them from administering the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and cannot learn much about personality preferences from NASSP Assessment Center data. Hiring officials should use multiple information sources, select appropriate measurement…

Somewhere between easygoing and hardboiled management extremes lies the realm of true leadership. An effective administrator gets results by leading people (not ordering them), learning how to handle them, and discovering what makes each one tick. A true leader captures and holds staff members' confidence, helps them develop needed skills, and…

Defines the concept of leadership. Reviews different theories of leadership and how they relate to outdoor leadership. The Conditional Outdoor Leadership Theory is a new approach to leadership based on applying the appropriate leadership style according to importance of task, group relationship, and level of conditional favorability. (LP)

Used Student Leadership Practices Inventory to survey fraternity and sorority presidents and executive committee members. Findings from 239 men and 389 women revealed that practices of effective student leaders did not vary according to gender. Effective leaders, both male and female, engaged in challenging, inspiring, enabling, modeling, and…

Explores the relationship between superintendent leadership and school districts' organizational culture, based on case studies of three successful Pennsylvania districts. Identifies leadership characteristics shared by these superintendents: espousing child- centered values; modeling district beliefs and values; and attending to educational…

Builds a case for studying principals' dilemmas, discusses lack of studies in non-Western contexts, and briefly reviews Hong Kong schooling reforms. Describes how 15 Hong Kong principals managed various dilemmas and the managerial consequences. Although dilemmas may be generic across cultures, their formation and management seem culturally…