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This article reports on a research project that studied the approaches to leadership adopted by head teachers in one local authority in an area of extreme social deprivation in northern England. Using data from semi-structured interviews which was analysed using three software packages, it examines how far the heads use either transactional or transformational leadership and identifies the factors that lead heads to make leadership choices. It concludes that while heads use both approaches to leadership, they believe that transformational leadership is far more effective in bringing about change which produces successful school development. However, external pressures cause the heads to concentrate far more than they would wish on transactional leadership in spite of the espoused national policy to facilitate school improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]