Principals explore emotions of school leadership

It was only a matter of time before someone was going to break the silence on the emotions of leadership. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that leadership sustainability and principal well-being depend upon it. This article reflects upon principal experiences of their work as they were discussed for seven months in a private, anonymous, asynchronous online forum. Participants used pseudonyms throughout the process. Located on a university server, this method supported principals from six countries - England, Ireland, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia - to commune with each other for the express purpose of considering the emotions of leadership. While aspects of their discussions have been reported elsewhere, the main focus here is on leaders images of themselves and their work. Issues of gender emerged clearly, and as women were the most highly participative in this part of the discussion, the achievement of some interesting insights into women s ways of leading became possible. [Author abstract, ed]