THE EXPRESSION OF A PRINCIPAL’S TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP DURING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROCESS: A CASE STUDY OF LITHUANIAN GENERAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS

Transformational leadership is essential for school principals who desire to achieve school success and effectiveness, especially when determining a school's direction, creating a cohesive school community for collective activities, building relationships among all members of the school community, etc. The purpose of the research was to investigate a school principal's transformational leadership while implementing organizational changes in a school. A semi-structured interview with principals of eight general education schools in Lithuania was used to collect data. Categories and subcategories were identified in the data from which conclusions were drawn. Within the context of the research, the results suggest that the principals who embrace a transformational leadership during the initiation, implementation and institutionalization of change 1) reveal their personal determination to implement change; 2) express their concern for professional development; 3) demonstrate support for school values and a cohesive school community; 4) fosters achieved results by distributing leadership.