Assistant Principal Dilemma: Walking the Line Between Compliance and Leadership

Inspired by real-life events, this case describes the start of a seemingly solid working relationship between two elementary campus administrators and its demise as the result of inadequate communication and distrust. Initially, these two leaders benefit from differing supervision styles, but these differences eventually lead to increased tension and conflict between them. The assistant principal (AP) attempts to maintain a unified administrative front despite disagreement with the principal’s leadership style and decisions. Once the principal suspects the AP is undermining her authority, their relationship quickly deteriorates and the AP faces losing his job.