ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a special case of organizational leadership, the leadership functions and processes associated with the school principal as the formally designated leader of a professionally staffed organization. It examines the role behaviours and conceptions of principals in terms of selected leadership functions and processes. The chapter shows the differences between principals' conceptions and behaviours and the perceptions and expectations held by teachers for principals' leadership behavior. It describes the degree of consensus existing among principals and among teachers and the potentialities for conflict between conceptions, behaviours perceptions and expectations. The chapter explores the relationships between principals' leadership behaviour, principals' values and attitudes, school innovativeness and organizational climate for change and teachers' innovativeness. A review of the literature on leadership, organization theory and the school principalship was conducted to identify the main observed and ascribed leadership functions of the school principal.
