ersonnel services were identified as the key competencies which an effective principal must possess in order to lead.
Principalship, according to Williams (2000), is viewed as a position in which competencies in dealing with the human component of the school (i.e., community, teachers, students, and central office personnel) and with the improvement of the educational program are ideally important. Ray Lemley, an educational consultant and former principal, agrees with this and states that communication competencies should also be added to this listing of skills needed by the principal (Twelve ways forà , 2001).
Principals who provide positive feedback to students, teachers, and support staff and who create a proactive administrative stance toward discipline, safety, reform or change, and involving stakeholders tend to be more able to influence school culture than principals who are authoritarian (Fink & Resnick, 2001). While it is critical to recognize that principals face a number of challenges in balancing administrative tasks alone, it is also important to recognize that effective school administrators and principals are instructional leaders as well. However, Fink and Resnick (2001) believe that most principals are overwhelmed by the activities of management such as scheduling, reporting, handling relations with parents and the community, and coping with the multiple crises and special situations that are inevitable in schools. Instruction, however, is a critical aspect of school success which effective principals must address if their schools are to meet the diverse needs of an equally diverse group of stakeholders.
Nevertheless, principals and other key school administrators are of
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