ABSTRACT
An administrator wanted information about a candidate for a headship, and telephoned his opposite number in the Authority from which the candidate came. He explained that the school had rather run down and he wanted to get it put ‘on the map’ (1). He wanted it to be better than any other similar school (2). Would Mr X be capable of impressing himself, not only in his own school, but in relation to all the other schools of the district? (3). Was Mr X well up in the very latest methods? (4). Did he believe in the integrated day? (5). When the respondent tried to stress Mr X’s solid worth, he seemed uninterested. He asked no questions about Mr X’s organizational capacity.
