To test model of general managerial effectiveness, superiors (N=271), subordinates (N=605), and peers (N=469) rated 344 managers. Study designed to test three specific hypotheses on criterion type and criterion weights found consensus in effectiveness models of superiors, subordinates, and peers. Consensus among different raters was high on both…

Management developers often undermine their own objectives through inconsistent, paradoxical behavior. Paradoxes are a normal by-product of the way people assign meaning to interpersonal action. Case studies illustrate four paradoxes affecting human resource developers. (JOW)

A new elementary principal had four tough challenges: following an effective, highly respected predecessor; handling daily complaints, catastrophes, and distractions; combining vision with competence and consistency; and developing resiliency at handling negative criticism. A collaborative, improvement-oriented leadership style helped him and his…

The use of personality assessments in management training programs is controversial. However, managers must achieve the organization's goals through the work of others, and, to do that effectively, they must have insight into how they are perceived by others and how their attitudes affect their behavior. (JOW)

The job satisfaction and effectiveness of principals, the effectiveness of their schools, and the relationships among these 3 variables were investigated through questionnaires and interviews involving 112 elementary school principals, 262 teachers, and 9 area superintendents. (54 references) (MLF)

Based on a 40-year-old superintendent's experience in an Ohio school district, this article examines 5 prevalent myths regarding job demands and priorities, teacher morale, new program implementation, and the need to study the whole picture. Successful superintendents build on previous experience by remaining accessible, being good listeners, and…

A recent national study of senior high school principals shows that effective high school leaders often are high-flying risk takers. Risk-taking principals actively identify and solve problems--often urging groups and individuals to try new approaches rather than just talk about them. Fortunately, such principals are seldom out on the high wire…

Examines current debates on management competencies and reports that a growing number of schools are using competence-based approaches to management development. Evaluates standards-based approaches, particularly those associated with England's Management Charter Initiative and its school-management variant produced by School Management South.…

Argues that public administration assumes an impoverished definition of "profession" and has neglected important dimensions of the practice that need examination in a more constructive debate. Illuminates the roles that public administrators have played and must play if they are to govern effectively and professionally. (Author)

Data from 207 middle-level government employees and ratings by 896 of their peers and 202 supervisors showed that significant predictors of their managerial effectiveness included managerial self-awareness and their ability to establish strong, supportive lateral relationships (manifested in their ability to influence others). (SK)

Examines the concept of organizational leadership and its connection to inspiration, renewal, continuous improvement, and excellence. Leadership in relation to embracing and adapting to change is also discussed, followed by how the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers used leadership to renew its association through revitalization…

School leaders face tensions at global, macropolitical, policy, and school levels resulting from simultaneous and contradictory influences toward sameness and difference. Government and school leaders can deal with these tensions by challenging the sameness that typifies school operations and valuing and learning from differences among school…

Aspiring principals often have only a vague understanding of what the principalship entails--the loneliness, conflicts, dull routines, paperwork, and struggles to solve complex problems with limited resources. A recent study of southern principals showed that the induction practices (summer induction conferences and mentoring/internship programs)…

Assuming the quality of the principal is directly linked to student learning and instruction, whose responsibility is it to develop building administrators to their fullest? This question is at the center of Principal Training on the Ground by Sandra Stein and colleagues from the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College of the City University of…

This article builds a conceptual framework to examine how school leaders can move away from a planning framework that emphasizes only short-term target setting and move to an effective strategic approach. It examines early evidence from research on what dimensions are critical in establishing a strategically focused school within a medium-term…