Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the leadership styles of secondary school principals and to determine if secondary school principals with counseling training have different leadership styles than those secondary school principals who do not have counseling training. Methodology. Secondary school principals in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties in California were sent a questionnaire to determine if they had counseling training and the Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD-Self) to determine their leadership style. The principals' subordinates, his secretary and/or an assistant principal or the next highest certificated person, were asked to complete the Leader Behavior Analysis (LBA-Other) to determine the leadership style of the principal as perceived by their subordinates. Sixty percent of both principals and subordinates responded. The majority of the data were treated with descriptive statistics and the chi-square comparison of frequencies. Findings. Major statistical outcomes showed that fifty-three point nine percent of the secondary school principals had counseling training. Results of the chi-square tests showed no differences at the .05 level in the area of leadership styles of secondary school principals with counseling training and the principals without counseling training. However, data analysis showed results of the chi-square tests to be significant at the .05 level in the areas of leadership styles of secondary school principals with or without counseling training and the perceived leadership styles of the principals by their subordinates. The majority of principals both with or without counseling training felt their leadership style was Style 2: High Task/High Relationship, whereas the majority of the principals' subordinates saw their principals as using Style 3: Low Task/High Relationship. Conclusions. This study indicated that secondary school principals perceived their leadership styles differently than did their subordinates. Counseling training was not a determining factor in the development of leadership styles of principals. Age, sex, level of schooling and educational degrees also were not factors in determining leadership styles of principals. Finally, a common set of counseling competencies were agreed upon by the majority of principals. Recommendations. Major recommendations resulting from this study were: (1) replicate this study in larger urban areas, (2) examine the areas of leadership effectiveness and style adaptability, and (3) examine the instrumentation development process to plot the validity of the instruments being used for research.