ABSTRACT
Principals exhibit recurring patterns of behavior that reveal their “style” as an administrator. The extent to which a leader’s style is deemed acceptable depends on role expectations-that is, the behaviors persons expect from a principal. Conflict emerges when administrators are confronted with multiple and possibly incompatible expectations. Principal Brown, for example, faces such a dilemma. On the one hand, staff members demand that she emulate her predecessor. On the other hand, the superintendent expects her to motivate the staff to pursue needed changes even though resources available to the school have been reduced substantially.
