Roland Barth (2001) offers a simple definition of leadership: "Making happen what you believe in" (p. 446). But more complex conceptions of leadership are also taking hold. For instance, the Task Force on the Principalship of the School Leadership for the 21st Century Initiative (Institute for Educational Leadership, 2000) based its work on this premise: "[P]rincipals today also must serve as leaders for student learning. They must know aca- demic content and pedagogical techniques. They must work with teachers to strengthen skills. They must collect, analyze, and use data in ways that fuel excellence" (p. 2).
Implementing such an ambitious set of tasks takes its toll on principals, however. "Creating a learning community requires planned pursuit, yet principals can be easily consumed by everyday 'urgent but unimportant' matters," Milli Pierce observes (2000).