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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore successful school principalship in Cyprus based on a ten-year research project, and in particular, by analysing leadership knowledge based on concrete actions of successful school principals derived from multiple case studies from the primary and secondary education sectors in Cyprus.Design/methodology/approachThe initial type of evidence was original qualitative empirical research undertaken through the examination of 11 case studies of successful primary and secondary school principals across Cyprus. Following, for the purposes of this paper a cross-case reanalysis was performed in order to extract successful actions from the participating school principals.FindingsBased on the emerging actions from the cross-case analysis, findings indicate that successful school principals, both in primary and secondary education, develop external relations, as well as networking with all relevant actors; create a collaborative and shared ownership feeling among their members and within their school organization; and finally promote a clear vision, based on a specific number of values.Originality/valueThis overall effort led us to the articulation of certain successful actions, which could be related and compared to the results in other successful school principalship contexts. Furthermore, it could contribute to the cross-country comparative knowledge body on successful school principalship, with different educational policies and different social contexts.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether emotional intelligence and political skill (PS) of school principals influence the way they exercise leadership and the job satisfaction of their teachers.Design/methodology/approach– As regards to the methodology, quantitative research methods were used to conduct the research. Specifically, the data analysis was performed with the statistical program SPSS and the EQS program for the development of structural equation models. Participants were 182 principals of Cyprus public elementary schools and 910 teachers.Findings– The findings indicated that the emotional intelligence and PS of school principals are related to the educational leadership styles they use and to teachers’ job satisfaction. Such a relationship highlights the social skills of principals as an important area for further research.Research limitations/implications– Future research may benefit from developing and validating an investigating tool which rates school principals’ Emotional-Political Capacity because, as revealed from the current research, this new construct directly affects the leadership radius and teachers’ job satisfaction.Practical implications– This research provides important feedback to those organizations interested in educational leadership and reform, as it can further illuminate (unknown until now) qualities that an effective school principal must have.Originality/value– The importance of this research and its contribution to science, is illustrated by the fact that this is one of the first research efforts undertaken, which indicates that the emotional and political skills may be factors that shape effective educational leadership styles.

Life is lived in an era characterised by complexity and instability. Pedagogical ideals or educational goals are usually determined based on the socio‐political and cultural period in which people find themselves at a specific point in its history. Then, in what ways do people train their principals to be models of and act in line with those democratic values and ideals that aim at fostering good citizens? Furthermore, how do these goal statements fare in relation to the moral purpose of schools and especially focus on the social goals of schools? These and similar issues are dealt with in this paper. More specifically, there is a description of the major restructuring initiatives towards school empowerment and democracy introduced in the Cyprus education system. Further, an attempt is made in order to show how these changes have affected (or not) the education system with respect to personnel management, the power of the centre, democracy and the curriculum, and democracy and inspection.