Attributes of School Principals - Leadership Qualities & Capacities

Successful leadership is not the result of simply obtaining a position, but rather possessing the knowledge and understanding of successful leadership skills along with the personal ability to effectively implement those skills. Hence, "School leaders need impressive skills to provide effective leadership in our diverse school environments”. However Leadership is not a concept for self but it should be rightly perceived by followers. The study examines the relationship of teachers’ perception of the Leadership Capacities of their Principals to the Leadership Qualities of Empathy, Decision making, Time Management, Comfort etc. Three Hundred School teachers from Malaysia participaed in the study. Self Developed Questionnaire on Leadership Capacities and Qualities was given to the sample. The findings showed that the Principals were perceived to be having Moderate leadership Capacities and Moderate level of Leadership Qualities. However there is strong and positive correlation between perception of teachers on leadership capacities and leadership qualities of principals.