ABSTRACT
Most research into how principals use their time has focused on what they do in the short term: minutes, hours, days, or weeks. In this chapter, we propose that effectiveness should be determined by what principals achieve in the long term: Specifically, we explore how successful principals balance their leadership and management roles to be more successful school leaders. In doing so, we outline a model called the total role concept, which identifies four key role dimensions: (a) core, (b) expected, (c) augmented, and (d) potential. Management is defined as the core and expected dimensions of their role, while leadership is defined as the augmented and potential dimensions. Drawing on findings from extensive case studies on the work of successful Australian principals involved in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP), we show that successful leaders can make a positive difference in their schools by spending a significant amount of time working in the augmented and potential areas of their work (leadership), rather than spending most of their time engaged in the routine and bureaucratic aspects of their role (management). We suggest that principal success should be determined by how they apportion their leadership and management roles over time.
