# Leadership vs Management for School Heads: Five Practices

Leadership vs management for DepEd school heads, explained with RA 9155, Kotter's six functions, 10 school scenarios and the Five Practices mapped to PPSSH.

This is the Markdown copy of [Leadership vs Management for School Heads: Five Practices](https://nash.com.ph/blog/leadership-vs-management-school-heads), an article on the NASH Reviewer Blog by Mark Anthony Llego, published Oct 26, 2026, updated Nov 4, 2026. Topics: School leadership, Aspiring school heads. NASH Reviewer is an independent practice platform not affiliated with DepEd, BHROD, or NEAP.

Republic Act No. 9155 (RA 9155) requires a Department of Education (DepEd) school head to be both an instructional leader and an administrative manager. For teachers preparing for the National Assessment for School Heads (NASH, formerly the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads or NQESH) and for newly designated school heads, the topic falls under strands 1.1, 1.4, 2.6, 4.1, 4.6, 4.8 and 5.1 of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH) in [DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2020/09/07/september-7-2020-do-024-s-2020-national-adoption-and-implementation-of-the-philippine-professional-standards-for-school-heads/).

John Kotter's six functions, ten school scenarios with an answer key, and James Kouzes and Barry Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership show what each role involves. A self-check and three practice items follow.

## Key points

- **RA 9155 asks every school head to lead and to manage.** Section 7 says the school head "shall be both an instructional leader and administrative manager". The PPSSH expects aspiring school heads at Career Stage 1 to have the minimum qualifications for both functions.
- **Management handles complexity; leadership handles change.** John Kotter lists three management functions: planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, and controlling and problem solving. He lists three leadership functions: setting a direction, aligning people, and motivating and inspiring. He calls the two systems complementary.
- **Most real school tasks need both.** Of the ten scenarios in this guide, four are mainly management, two are mainly leadership, and four need both. Even the management tasks go better when the school head explains their purpose.
- **The Five Practices describe what leaders do at their best.** Kouzes and Posner name Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart, each with two commitments. In their surveys, people most often choose honest, competent, inspiring and forward-looking as the qualities they admire in a leader.
- **Fair relationships are part of leadership.** Leader–member exchange research by George Graen and colleagues describes how leaders form close "in-groups" and distant "out-groups". A school head should offer every teacher the chance of a high-quality working relationship.
- **Your weakest practice can become a development goal.** PPSSH indicator 4.1.1 asks for a self-assessment, and indicator 4.1.2 at Career Stage 2 asks for goals based on it. This guide gives an original, evidence-based self-check, not the copyrighted Leadership Practices Inventory.

## Why RA 9155 requires a school head to lead and to manage

[Republic Act No. 9155](https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2001/08/11/republic-act-no-9155/), the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, sets out what a school head is responsible for. Section 4 defines a school head as "a person responsible for the administrative and instructional supervision of the school or cluster of schools". The word "administrative" points to management. The words "instructional supervision" point to leading teaching and learning.

Section 7, on the school level, is more direct: "The school head, who may be assisted by an assistant school head, shall be both an instructional leader and administrative manager". The same section says the school head "shall form a team with the school teachers/learning facilitators" to deliver the school's programs. It also says that "A core of non-teaching staff shall handle the school's administrative, fiscal and auxiliary services".

Section 7 then lists twelve areas of authority, accountability and responsibility. Some are mainly about direction, such as "Setting the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the school" and "Introducing new and innovative modes of instruction to achieve higher learning outcomes". Others are mainly about running the school, such as "Administering and managing all personnel, physical and fiscal resources of the school". The [guide to RA 9155 school head duties](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ra-9155-school-head-duties) explains all twelve areas with school examples.

The PPSSH uses the same pairing. Its description of Career Stage 1 says that aspiring school heads "have also acquired the minimum qualifications to perform their functions as instructional leaders and administrative managers". Its summary of the domains says that quality school heads "Set the direction of the school" (Domain 1) and "Manage the systems and processes in the school" (Domain 2).

Current policy has made the management side heavier. [DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2024/01/26/january-26-2024-do-002-s-2024-immediate-removal-of-administrative-tasks-of-public-school-teachers/) removed administrative tasks from teachers' workload. It defines these as tasks not directly related to teaching and says: "These shall be performed by School Heads and non-teaching personnel".

The tasks include personnel administration, property custodianship, financial management, records management, and programs such as feeding and school disaster risk reduction and management. For this order, a designated teacher-in-charge counts as a school head.

A school head who only manages keeps the records in order, but the school does not improve. A school head who only leads may inspire teachers while reports, funds and property fall behind. The law asks for both.

## Leadership vs management: definitions and comparison table

Leadership is the work of setting a direction for the school and getting people to commit to it. Management is the work of planning, organizing and checking the use of people, money, materials and time, so that agreed results happen reliably. Both are functions, not job titles. A grade-level chair who runs a reading program also leads and manages.

The table below compares the two.

| Point of comparison | Leadership | Management |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | Where should the school go, and why? | How will the work get done, by whom, and by when? |
| What it deals with | Change | Complexity and routine |
| Time frame | Several school years | This week, this month, this school year |
| Main tools | A shared goal, conversations, personal example, recognition | Plans, budgets, schedules, assignments, forms, monitoring reports |
| Gets results through | People's commitment | Clear roles, systems and checks |
| A sign it is working | Teachers and parents can explain the goal in their own words | Work is done on time, within budget, with complete records |
| What happens without it | Work gets done, but nothing improves | Good ideas fail because no one planned the details |
| Where the PPSSH stresses it | Domain 1, Leading Strategically | Domain 2, Managing School Operations and Resources |

The table separates the two for study, but a school does not. A school improvement plan needs a direction that people believe in, and it needs a schedule, a budget and monitoring. The [Domain 1 guide](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-1-leading-strategically) and the [Domain 2 guide](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-2-managing-school-operations) cover each side in more depth.

Leading and managing describe the two halves of the job. The research also names leadership styles, such as transformational, instructional and distributed leadership; [Leadership Styles of School Heads: What the Evidence Says](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-leadership-styles) compares them and rates the evidence for each.

## Kotter's managing vs leading functions

John Kotter of Harvard Business School set out a widely cited version of this distinction. His article "What Leaders Really Do" first appeared in the Harvard Business Review in 1990 and was reprinted in 2001. He wrote that "Management is about coping with complexity" and "Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change".

Kotter described management and leadership as "two distinctive and complementary systems of action". Both systems do the same three jobs. Each one chooses the work, organizes the people who will carry it out, and checks that the work is completed. Each system does these jobs in its own way.

| Job | Managing | Leading |
|---|---|---|
| Choose the work | **Planning and budgeting:** set targets for the coming months, list the steps, and assign money and materials to each step | **Setting a direction:** describe where the school should be in a few years, and choose the strategies that will get it there |
| Organize the people | **Organizing and staffing:** set up roles, put qualified people in them, delegate, and set up ways to monitor the work | **Aligning people:** communicate the direction to everyone whose cooperation is needed, until they understand it and commit to it |
| Check that the work is done | **Controlling and problem solving:** compare results with the plan, find the gaps, and organize to close them | **Motivating and inspiring:** give people the energy to keep going when obstacles appear, by speaking to what they value and need |

Take a school that wants every Grade 3 learner to read at grade level. Setting the direction means agreeing on that goal with teachers and parents, using the school's reading results. Planning and budgeting means a schedule of reading sessions and funds set aside for reading materials. Organizing and staffing means naming a reading coordinator and assigning tutors.

Aligning people means explaining the goal at the parents' general assembly and to barangay officials, not only to teachers. Controlling means checking reading results by class every month and adjusting the plan. Motivating means recognizing the first class that moves its learners up a reading level, and telling the faculty what that teacher did.

Kotter warned that a strong leader who manages poorly does no better than a strong manager who cannot lead, and can do worse. His advice was to build strength in both, so that each one makes up for the weaknesses of the other. He wrote about companies, but the point fits a school that must meet DepEd deadlines and still improve learning. For how a school head leads a change from start to finish, see [Leading Change in Schools](https://nash.com.ph/blog/leading-change-in-schools).

## Leadership or management: ten DepEd school scenarios to test yourself

Read each scenario and decide whether it is mainly leadership, mainly management, or both. Write your answers before you read the key.

1. The school head and the administrative officer plan how the school's Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) will be spent over the next three months. They set amounts and dates for each item.
2. After the school's reading assessment, the school head shows teachers and parents the results by grade. Together they agree that reading will be the school's first priority for the next two school years.
3. Before classes open, the school head assigns teachers to grade levels, subjects and advisory classes. She checks each teacher's load in the electronic School Form 7 (eSF7), the School Personnel Assignment List and Basic Profile.
4. The school head moves the encoding of property records and feeding program reports from teachers to the school's non-teaching staff. She explains to the faculty why the change is happening and what the freed time is for.
5. Every week the school head reviews attendance records. She asks advisers to contact the families of learners who have missed several days in a row.
6. A Grade 5 teacher proposes peer tutoring in mathematics. The school head lets her try it in two sections and agrees with her on how to check the results. She asks the teacher to share what she learns at the next learning action cell (LAC) session.
7. For Brigada Eskwela, the school head lists the repairs the school needs and forms work teams with parents and partners. When the work is done, she thanks each group in public.
8. A typhoon leaves two classrooms unusable. The school head reports the damage to the division office and rearranges the class schedule. She then meets teachers and parents to explain how learning will continue.
9. The school head liquidates a cash advance and files all supporting documents on time.
10. Two senior teachers argue in the faculty room over the use of the only computer laboratory. The school head talks with each of them, sets a fair schedule, and reminds both of the learning goal the laboratory serves.

### Answer key

| # | Mainly | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Management | Planning and budgeting. It becomes leadership as well when each expense is chosen because it serves the school's agreed goals. |
| 2 | Leadership | Setting a direction and aligning people. The school head uses data to reach a goal that teachers and parents own. |
| 3 | Management | Organizing and staffing, plus the workload check that DO 002, s. 2024 assigns to school heads. Fair, open assignments also build trust. |
| 4 | Both | Moving the tasks is organizing (management). Explaining the purpose so that teachers see the change as support is aligning people (leadership). |
| 5 | Management | Controlling and problem solving: compare attendance with what is expected, and act on the gap early. |
| 6 | Leadership | Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act: a small, safe trial that a teacher owns. The agreed check of results is the management part. |
| 7 | Both | The repair list and the work teams are management. Involving parents and partners and thanking them in public is leadership. |
| 8 | Both | Reporting damage and rescheduling classes are management. Keeping teachers and families calm and focused on learning is leadership. |
| 9 | Management | Financial control. Done correctly and openly, it also builds the honesty that people look for in a leader. |
| 10 | Both | The schedule solves a management problem. Settling the conflict calmly and pointing both teachers to a shared goal is leadership. |

Four scenarios are mainly management, two are mainly leadership, and four need both. Even the four management tasks have a leadership side, because people work better when they know why a task matters. The two leadership tasks also need management, because a goal without a plan and a check is rarely reached.

This is the point of RA 9155's "both". Under the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy that the NASH uses, the strongest answer connects the parts of a problem. On this topic, that usually means an answer that gets the task done correctly and links it to the people and the school's direction.

## Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership

James Kouzes and Barry Posner began collecting leaders' accounts of their personal-best leadership experiences in the early 1980s. They published their findings in *The Leadership Challenge*, first in 1987, and the seventh edition appeared in 2023. From those cases they identified five practices that leaders use when they are at their best. Each practice has two commitments, which the authors call the Ten Commitments of Exemplary Leadership.

The names below follow the seventh edition. Some older reviewers list "small wins" under Model the Way. In the current edition, small wins belong to the commitment Experiment and Take Risks, under Challenge the Process.

### Model the Way

The two commitments are **Clarify Values** and **Set the Example**. A leader first works out what he or she believes and helps the group agree on the values its members share. The leader then acts on those values every day, where people can see it. Teachers judge a school head's values by how the school head uses time, money and attention, not by speeches.

School example: a school head who says that class time is protected schedules meetings after class hours. She does not pull teachers out of class for errands, and she is present at the flag ceremony. When an outside request would take teachers away from class, she first looks for a way to meet it without losing class time.

This practice serves strand 1.1. At Career Stage 4, indicator 1.1.4 asks the school head to "Serve as a role model" in embodying the DepEd vision, mission and core values.

### Inspire a Shared Vision

The two commitments are **Envision the Future** and **Enlist Others**. A leader pictures what the school could become and helps others adopt that picture as their own goal. A vision is shared when teachers, learners and parents can describe it in their own words. A vision that is only painted on the wall at the school entrance is not shared.

School example: a school head shows three years of reading results at a faculty meeting. She asks teachers what they want their learners to be able to do by Grade 6, and she builds the school's goal from their answers. She repeats the goal at every parents' assembly and connects each new activity to it.

This practice serves strand 1.1. The PPSSH also asks school heads to build relationships based on "commitment towards sharing the same vision for the attainment of institutional goals".

### Challenge the Process

The two commitments are **Search for Opportunities** and **Experiment and Take Risks**. A leader looks inside and outside the school for better ways of working. Changes start as small trials that can bring early successes, which the authors call small wins. People can then learn from what does not work without fear. The leader treats a failed trial as information, not as a reason to blame someone.

School example: the peer-tutoring trial in scenario 6. Before it starts, the school head and the teacher look for research from reliable sources on peer tutoring. If results improve after an agreed period, the school extends the approach to more classes. If they do not, the team records what it learned and tries something else.

This practice serves strands 1.4 (research and innovation) and 2.6 (emerging opportunities and challenges).

### Enable Others to Act

The two commitments are **Foster Collaboration** and **Strengthen Others**. A leader builds trust and gets people working together, then gives them the skills, information and authority to act. Teachers grow when they make real decisions and get support while they learn.

School example: grade-level groups decide their own remediation schedule within the school's reading goal. The school head sends different teachers to trainings and asks each one to share what she learned at a LAC session. A Teacher I who is good with data is coached to lead the school's data team.

This practice serves strands 4.6 (leadership development in individuals and teams) and 5.1 (management of diverse relationships).

### Encourage the Heart

The two commitments are **Recognize Contributions** and **Celebrate the Values and Victories**. A leader notices good work, thanks people in specific terms, and celebrates progress together with them. Recognition means more when it names what the person did and links it to the school's shared values.

School example: at a faculty meeting, the school head names the adviser who contacted the family of every absent learner, and she says how attendance changed as a result. When the school reaches a reading target, learners, parents and teachers celebrate it together.

This practice serves strand 4.8 (rewards and recognition mechanism).

### The Five Practices at a glance

| Practice | Two commitments (seventh edition) | Main PPSSH strands |
|---|---|---|
| Model the Way | Clarify Values; Set the Example | 1.1 |
| Inspire a Shared Vision | Envision the Future; Enlist Others | 1.1, 5.1 |
| Challenge the Process | Search for Opportunities; Experiment and Take Risks | 1.4, 2.6 |
| Enable Others to Act | Foster Collaboration; Strengthen Others | 4.6, 5.1 |
| Encourage the Heart | Recognize Contributions; Celebrate the Values and Victories | 4.8 |

## The four qualities people admire in leaders

For four decades, Kouzes and Posner have surveyed people about the qualities they look for in a leader they would willingly follow. The same four qualities have always received the most votes: honest, competent, inspiring and forward-looking. People choose honesty more often than any other quality.

| Quality | What it means for a school head |
|---|---|
| Honest | Tells the truth, keeps promises, and handles money, grades and assignments openly |
| Competent | Knows DepEd policy, the curriculum and the school's systems, and gets things done |
| Inspiring | Shows real enthusiasm for the school's goal, so that others want to join |
| Forward-looking | Has a clear sense of where the school is going and can describe it |

Kouzes and Posner link honesty, competence and being inspiring to credibility, which they treat as the foundation of leadership. Their practical rule for credibility is "Do What You Say You Will Do". For a school head, that means a promised repair is made, a promised training slot goes to the person named, and a meeting starts at the time announced.

## The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI)

Kouzes and Posner measure the Five Practices with the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). It has 30 behavior statements, six for each practice. The leader rates how often he or she shows each behavior on a ten-point scale. In the 360 version, people who work with the leader also rate the leader, and the report compares their ratings.

The LPI is copyrighted and published by John Wiley & Sons through The Leadership Challenge. This guide does not reproduce or paraphrase its items. To take it, get the LPI Self or the LPI 360 from the publisher's [leadership assessments page](https://www.leadershipchallenge.com/leadership-assessments).

Retyped copies of the inventory that circulate at seminars are not the licensed instrument. Some may use a different scale or scoring key, so their totals cannot be compared with the publisher's reports.

## A self-check for the Five Practices

Use this exercise when you do not have the licensed LPI. It asks for evidence, not ratings. Do it at the end of each month for three months.

1. For each practice, write one thing you did this month. Name the date, the people involved and what happened.
2. Next to it, write the evidence another person could check, such as meeting minutes, a message, a schedule, a learner output or a posted goal.
3. Mark any practice where you could write nothing, or where the only evidence is your own memory.
4. Show your sheet to two colleagues you trust. Ask what they saw you do, and add what they report. This step uses the blind area of the Johari Window of Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham: other people see things about you that you do not.
5. After three months, the practice with the least evidence is your growth area.

| Practice | Question to answer each month | Example of evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Model the Way | Which agreed value did I act on this month when it was inconvenient for me? | A meeting moved to after class hours; a written explanation of a hard decision |
| Inspire a Shared Vision | When did I connect a task to the school's goal in front of teachers or parents? | Minutes of a meeting where the reading goal was discussed |
| Challenge the Process | Which small trial did we run, and what did its results show? | A one-page trial plan and its results |
| Enable Others to Act | Which decision did a teacher or team make this month that I once made myself? | A memo naming a teacher as lead, with notes from coaching |
| Encourage the Heart | Whose work did I recognize, for what exactly, and in what form? | A thank-you note; minutes that name the contribution |

The [Johari Window self-assessment](https://nash.com.ph/johari-window) on NASH Reviewer helps with step 4. It applies the four areas of the window to the PPSSH domains, so you can see where you most need feedback.

## Leader–member exchange: in-groups, out-groups and favoritism

Leader–member exchange (LMX) theory comes from the work of George Graen and colleagues. This line of research began with a 1975 study by Fred Dansereau, George Graen and William Haga. They found that a manager does not treat all members in the same way. Each leader and member pair forms its own working relationship, and these relationships differ in quality.

In a 1995 review, Graen and Mary Uhl-Bien described the two ends of that range.

High-quality exchanges were once called the "in-group". In them, trust, respect and a sense of obligation are high on both sides, and members grow beyond their assigned duties. Low-quality exchanges were once called the "out-group". In them, trust is low, and members do their assigned duties and little more.

The same review moved away from in-groups and out-groups toward what the authors call "leadership making". A working relationship starts at a stranger stage, where exchanges are formal and limited to the job. It can grow into an acquaintance stage, and then into a mature partnership with trust and loyalty on both sides.

Graen and Uhl-Bien argued that managers should offer every member the chance to build such a partnership. Not every offer will succeed. Making the offer to everyone, however, is seen as fairer, and it raises the number of strong working relationships in the organization.

### Why a school head must avoid a small favored group

In a school, an in-group forms quietly. The same few teachers chair the committees, attend the trainings, hear the news first and are asked for advice. Other teachers stop offering ideas and do only what is required. Some begin to read every decision as favoritism, and the school stops using the skills of most of its faculty.

This works against the PPSSH. Indicator 4.6.1 asks school heads to identify the strengths of individuals and teams for leadership roles, which means looking at the whole faculty. Indicator 5.1.1 asks for skill in dealing with colleagues, and the PPSSH lists accountability and transparency among its guiding principles.

Signs that your faculty has an out-group:

- The same names appear on every committee and training list.
- Some teachers never speak in meetings or bring you problems.
- Teachers learn school news from colleagues before they hear it from you.

A simple audit takes one afternoon:

1. List every teacher and non-teaching staff member.
2. For the last three months, mark who you consulted, who got a training slot, who chaired a committee, and who received recognition.
3. Circle the names with no marks. For each, plan one real conversation and one growth opportunity in the coming month.
4. From now on, make assignments and training nominations through criteria that everyone knows, and record your reasons.

## Emotional intelligence for school heads

Daniel Goleman made emotional intelligence widely known through his 1995 book, *Emotional Intelligence*. In "What Makes a Leader?", a 1998 Harvard Business Review article, he applied it to leadership through five components. He also argued that emotional intelligence can be learned.

| Component | Meaning (paraphrased) | School example |
|---|---|---|
| Self-awareness | Recognizing what you feel and want, and how your feelings affect other people | Noticing that you are short-tempered on report deadline days, and not starting hard conversations then |
| Self-regulation | Managing strong feelings and urges, so that you think before you act | Waiting until you are calm before you reply to an angry message from a parent |
| Motivation | Caring about the work itself, not only pay or position, and continuing to work toward goals when progress is slow | Keeping the reading program going after a slow first month |
| Empathy | Understanding other people's feelings and taking them into account | Asking how a teacher is coping after a death in the family before discussing a late report |
| Social skill | Working well with many kinds of people and bringing them to agreement | Getting barangay officials, the parent-teacher association and teachers to agree on one Brigada Eskwela plan |

A school head's mood affects the people around her. A school head who meets bad news with anger teaches the faculty to hide problems. One who stays calm and asks what happened makes it safe to report problems early. That is why emotional intelligence matters for both leading and managing.

## PPSSH strands and Career Stage 1 indicators for leadership and management

The table quotes the Career Stage 1 indicator of each strand that this topic serves, from DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020.

| Strand | Career Stage 1 indicator | Link to this guide |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Vision, mission and core values | 1.1.1 Demonstrate knowledge of the DepEd vision, mission and core values to foster shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities. | Setting a direction; Model the Way; Inspire a Shared Vision |
| 1.4 Research and innovation | 1.4.1 Identify relevant research findings from reliable sources in facilitating data-driven and evidence-based innovations to improve school performance. | Challenge the Process; small, evidence-based trials |
| 2.6 Emerging opportunities and challenges | 2.6.1 Identify emerging opportunities and challenges in addressing the needs of learners, school personnel and other stakeholders. | Search for Opportunities; leading change |
| 4.1 Personal and professional development | 4.1.1 Conduct self-assessment of personal and professional development needs using the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads. | The self-check and the LPI |
| 4.6 Leadership development in individuals and teams | 4.6.1 Identify strengths, capabilities and potentials of individuals and teams in performing leadership roles and responsibilities. | Enable Others to Act; avoiding an out-group |
| 4.8 Rewards and recognition mechanism | 4.8.1 Reward and recognize learners, school personnel and other stakeholders for exemplary performance and/ or support. | Encourage the Heart |
| 5.1 Management of diverse relationships | 5.1.1 Demonstrate skills in dealing with authorities, colleagues, parents and other stakeholders to encourage an enabling and supportive environment for learners. | Leader–member exchange; emotional intelligence |

Strand 4.1 continues at Career Stage 2 with indicator 4.1.2: "Set personal and professional development goals based on self-assessment aligned with the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads". The next section shows how to move from 4.1.1 to 4.1.2. The [Domain 4 guide](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ppssh-domain-4-developing-self-and-others) and the [PPSSH guide](https://nash.com.ph/ppssh) cover every strand.

## What the school head does: turning your weakest practice into a development goal

A self-assessment is useful only when it leads to a goal you act on. The steps below take you from indicator 4.1.1 to indicator 4.1.2.

| Step | Who | What | Document or tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You | Assess yourself against the PPSSH strands in the table above | The PPSSH booklet (DO 024, s. 2020); the [Johari Window tool](https://nash.com.ph/johari-window) |
| 2 | You | Collect one month of evidence for each of the Five Practices | The self-check in this guide, or the licensed LPI |
| 3 | Two or three colleagues | Tell you what they saw you do | Your written notes of their feedback |
| 4 | You | Choose the practice with the least evidence and link it to a PPSSH strand | Your self-assessment notes |
| 5 | You, with a mentor | Write one specific goal with a date and the evidence that will show progress | Your development plan or journal |
| 6 | You and your mentor | Act, record evidence, and review the goal at the agreed date | The same self-check, repeated |

[DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2025/08/11/august-11-2025-dm-069-s-2025-administration-of-the-national-assessment-for-school-heads-for-fiscal-year-2025/) urges aspiring school heads to seek coaching and mentoring from experienced principals. A principal who mentors you can help most at steps 3, 5 and 6.

Here is an example. A head teacher finds the least evidence under Encourage the Heart, and two colleagues agree. She links it to strand 4.8 and writes this goal: "For eight weeks, I will recognize one specific contribution at every faculty meeting and say how it helped learners". Her evidence will be the meeting minutes and a list of names, which she will check to make sure recognition reaches the whole faculty.

Avoid these common mistakes:

- **A goal no one can observe.** "Be more inspiring" cannot be checked. "Explain the reading goal at every meeting for two months" can.
- **A ritual instead of a change.** Giving every teacher the same certificate each month does not recognize anyone's actual work.
- **Working on the gap alone.** Your colleagues see your blind area, so ask them again at the review.
- **Forgetting management.** A leadership goal still needs a schedule, a record and a check, or it is dropped after the first busy week.

## Practice: how the NASH may test this

DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025 describes the NASH as a developmental assessment. Its questions are conceptual and situational, test critical thinking, follow the PPSSH, and are built on the SOLO taxonomy.

On this topic, expect situations in which a school head seems to choose between a management response and a leadership response. The strongest options usually do both: they complete the required task and connect it to the people and the school's direction. The three items below are original practice items, not NASH items. More are in [NASH Practice Questions With Answers](https://nash.com.ph/blog/nash-practice-questions-with-answers) and in the timed [practice sets](https://nash.com.ph/assessment).

### Question 1

*Indicator 1.1.1, Vision, mission and core values. Career Stage 1, Situational, Moderate.*

A newly designated teacher-in-charge of a small elementary school spends most of each week on reports, property records and the feeding program. Under DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024, she and one administrative aide now do this work instead of the teachers. Teachers say they no longer know what the school is trying to achieve this year. What should she do?

- **A.** Ask each teacher to take back one administrative task for a few weeks so that she has time to plan, and return the tasks when her reports are done.
- **B.** Finish all pending reports first and leave planning with the teachers until the backlog is cleared, since late reports reflect badly on the school during monitoring.
- **C.** Call a workshop to write a new school vision with teachers and parents, and let the routine reports wait until the new direction has been agreed.
- **D.** Set fixed weekly times for reports with the aide, then use the school's reading results to agree with teachers on one goal and link each activity to it.

**Answer and explanation**

**Best answer: D.** Points: A = 0, B = 2, C = 1, D = 3.

- **A (0 points, Prestructural).** DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024 removed administrative tasks from teachers' workload, so handing them back, even for a few weeks, goes against current policy.
- **B (2 points, Multistructural).** It treats the reports as required and plans to set a direction later. However, it handles the two duties one after the other, and the direction may never come.
- **C (1 point, Unistructural).** It sees only the leadership side. Reports, property records and the feeding program are duties the school head must still perform.
- **D (3 points, Relational).** It organizes the required management work so that it takes a fixed share of the week. It then uses the school's own data to set a direction and aligns the school's activities to it.

**Why.** RA 9155 requires the school head to be "both an instructional leader and administrative manager". DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024 assigns administrative tasks to school heads and non-teaching personnel. In Kotter's terms, option D keeps planning and controlling in place while it sets a direction and aligns people. Indicator 1.1.1 asks for shared understanding and alignment of school programs and activities, which is what option D builds. Options B and C each keep one role and drop the other.

*Indicator 1.1.1: Demonstrate knowledge of the DepEd vision, mission and core values to foster shared understanding and alignment of school policies, programs, projects and activities.*

*Sources: Republic Act No. 9155, Section 7; DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020; Kotter, "What Leaders Really Do" (Harvard Business Review, 1990).*

### Question 2

*Indicator 4.6.1, Leadership development in individuals and teams. Career Stage 1, Situational, Moderate.*

At a faculty meeting, several teachers say that the principal always gives committee chairs, trainings and new projects to the same three teachers. The principal trusts these three because they have never missed a deadline. What should the principal do first?

- **A.** Explain to the faculty that the three teachers earned their roles through reliable work, and ask the others to show the same reliability before seeking new roles.
- **B.** List every teacher's strengths and past roles, then open the next assignments through a clear process that gives other teachers a chance to lead, with support.
- **C.** Rotate every committee chair in alphabetical order each month, so that all teachers hold a role in turn and no one can claim that there is favoritism.
- **D.** Ask the teachers who raised the concern to submit it in writing, so that the principal can review whether their complaint has a basis in the records.

**Answer and explanation**

**Best answer: B.** Points: A = 1, B = 3, C = 2, D = 0.

- **A (1 point, Unistructural).** Reliability matters, but this answer defends the current pattern and gives the other teachers no path to show what they can do.
- **B (3 points, Relational).** It starts from the strengths of the whole faculty and keeps assignments based on merit. It also opens leadership roles to more teachers, with the support they need.
- **C (2 points, Multistructural).** It responds to the fairness concern, but rotating by name ignores each teacher's strengths and the needs of each committee.
- **D (0 points, Prestructural).** It treats an open concern about fairness as a complaint to process, which tells the faculty that their concern is not welcome.

**Why.** Leader–member exchange research describes how leaders form high-quality relationships with a few members and formal ones with the rest. Graen and Uhl-Bien recommend that leaders offer every member the chance to build a stronger working relationship. Indicator 4.6.1 asks the school head to identify strengths of individuals and teams for leadership roles, and option B applies that to the whole faculty. Option C is fair in form but not based on strengths.

*Indicator 4.6.1: Identify strengths, capabilities and potentials of individuals and teams in performing leadership roles and responsibilities.*

*Sources: DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020; Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995); Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, seventh edition (2023).*

### Question 3

*Indicator 4.1.1, Personal and professional development. Career Stage 1, Conceptual, Difficult.*

An aspiring school head writes down, for each of Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices, what she did in the past month and the evidence for it. She finds almost no evidence under Encourage the Heart, and two colleagues she asks for feedback agree. Which next step best reflects a self-assessment based on the PPSSH?

- **A.** Record recognition as a development need, link it to the PPSSH strand on rewards and recognition, and use it as the basis of one specific, dated goal.
- **B.** Plan a monthly awarding ceremony for all teachers starting next month, so that the gap closes quickly and the faculty can see the change at once.
- **C.** Repeat the self-check next month before drawing conclusions, since one month of evidence is too short to show a real pattern in her leadership.
- **D.** Put her effort into her strongest practice instead, since a leader should build on strengths and leave weaker areas to other members of staff.

**Answer and explanation**

**Best answer: A.** Points: A = 3, B = 2, C = 1, D = 0.

- **A (3 points, Relational).** It connects her own evidence, her colleagues' feedback and a PPSSH strand, and it turns the finding into a goal that can be checked.
- **B (2 points, Multistructural).** It acts on the gap, but it skips the link to the standards and replaces specific recognition with a ritual.
- **C (1 point, Unistructural).** More evidence is useful, but her own record and two colleagues already agree, so waiting delays a development need she has found.
- **D (0 points, Prestructural).** It ignores the purpose of a self-assessment, which is to find development needs and act on them.

**Why.** Indicator 4.1.1 asks aspiring school heads to assess their development needs using the PPSSH. Option A does that by tying the gap to strand 4.8, whose Career Stage 1 indicator is to reward and recognize learners, school personnel and other stakeholders. It also prepares for indicator 4.1.2 at Career Stage 2, which is to set development goals based on the self-assessment. The self-check in this item is an original exercise, not the copyrighted Leadership Practices Inventory.

*Indicator 4.1.1: Conduct self-assessment of personal and professional development needs using the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads.*

*Sources: DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020; Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, seventh edition (2023).*

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between leadership and management in a school?

Leadership sets the school's direction and gets people to commit to it, while management plans, organizes and checks the work so that the direction turns into results. John Kotter describes management as coping with complexity and leadership as coping with change. A school head needs both, because most school tasks involve both.

### Is a DepEd school head a leader or a manager under RA 9155?

A school head is both: Section 7 of RA 9155 says the school head "shall be both an instructional leader and administrative manager". The PPSSH repeats this pairing in its description of Career Stage 1 and in its five domains.

### What are the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership?

The Five Practices are Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. James Kouzes and Barry Posner describe them in *The Leadership Challenge*, whose seventh edition was published in 2023. Each practice has two commitments, for ten in all.

### Where can I take the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI)?

You can take the licensed LPI Self or LPI 360 through The Leadership Challenge website, which is run by the publisher, John Wiley & Sons. The LPI has 30 behavior statements, six per practice, rated on a ten-point frequency scale. Copies retyped for seminars are not the licensed version.

### What are Kotter's functions of management and leadership?

Kotter's three management functions are planning and budgeting, organizing and staffing, and controlling and problem solving. His three leadership functions are setting a direction, aligning people, and motivating and inspiring. He presented them in "What Leaders Really Do", first published in the Harvard Business Review in 1990.

## More on school leadership

This post is part of a series on what a school head does under the DepEd rules in force today. The other posts, in reading order:

- [RA 9155 Duties of DepEd School Heads: 12 Areas Explained](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ra-9155-school-head-duties)
- [DepEd Revised SBM: DO 007, s. 2024 and the Self-Assessment](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-school-based-management)
- [DepEd School Improvement Plan (SIP): Steps, AIP and SRC](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-school-improvement-plan)
- [Root Cause Analysis for the DepEd School Improvement Plan](https://nash.com.ph/blog/root-cause-analysis-school-improvement-plan)
- [Organizational Diagnosis Models in Schools: 7S, SWOT, PESTLE](https://nash.com.ph/blog/organizational-diagnosis-school-heads)
- [Change Management in Schools: A Guide for DepEd School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/leading-change-in-schools)
- [DepEd ILAW Lesson Plan, DO 016, s. 2026: School Head's Role](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-lesson-planning-do-016-s-2026)
- [DepEd Grading System, DO 015, s. 2026: School Head's Role](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-classroom-assessment-do-015-s-2026)
- [DepEd Contextualization, Localization and Indigenization](https://nash.com.ph/blog/curriculum-contextualization-localization)
- [DepEd Instructional Supervision: Observing and Coaching](https://nash.com.ph/blog/instructional-supervision-school-heads)
- [DepEd Learning Action Cell (LAC) Guidelines: DO 35, s. 2016](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-learning-action-cell)
- [DepEd PMES for Teachers: DM 089, s. 2025 for School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-pmes-teachers)
- [DepEd Enhanced ALS, Inclusive Education and Special Programs](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-als-inclusive-education-programs)
- [Human Resource Management for DepEd School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-head-human-resource-management)
- [DepEd School MOOE: Allowable Expenses and Liquidation](https://nash.com.ph/blog/deped-school-mooe)
- [RA 6713 for DepEd School Heads: Ethics and Internal Control](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-head-ethics-internal-control)
- [Leadership Styles of School Heads: What the Evidence Says](https://nash.com.ph/blog/school-leadership-styles)
- [Instructional Leadership for DepEd School Heads](https://nash.com.ph/blog/instructional-leadership-deped-school-heads)
- [Principal, Head Teacher or Teacher-in-Charge in DepEd](https://nash.com.ph/blog/principal-head-teacher-teacher-in-charge)
- [OPCRF for DepEd School Heads in 2026: What Applies Now](https://nash.com.ph/blog/opcrf-school-heads-deped)
- [RA 9155 at 25: Why Shared Governance Has Not Happened](https://nash.com.ph/blog/ra-9155-shared-governance-decentralization)
- On the app: [The roles of a school head](https://nash.com.ph/school-head-roles), the six roles in one guide, and the [PPSSH guide](https://nash.com.ph/ppssh)

## Sources

- [Republic Act No. 9155](https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2001/08/11/republic-act-no-9155/), Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, Sections 4 and 7 (Official Gazette; also on [the Lawphil Project](https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2001/ra_9155_2001.html)).
- [DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2020/09/07/september-7-2020-do-024-s-2020-national-adoption-and-implementation-of-the-philippine-professional-standards-for-school-heads/), National Adoption and Implementation of the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads.
- [DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2024/01/26/january-26-2024-do-002-s-2024-immediate-removal-of-administrative-tasks-of-public-school-teachers/), Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers.
- [DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025](https://www.deped.gov.ph/2025/08/11/august-11-2025-dm-069-s-2025-administration-of-the-national-assessment-for-school-heads-for-fiscal-year-2025/), Administration of the National Assessment for School Heads for Fiscal Year 2025.
- John Kotter, ["What Leaders Really Do"](https://hbr.org/2001/12/what-leaders-really-do), Harvard Business Review, 1990, reprinted December 2001.
- James Kouzes and Barry Posner, [*The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations*, seventh edition](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Leadership+Challenge%3A+How+to+Make+Extraordinary+Things+Happen+in+Organizations%2C+7th+Edition-p-9781119736127), Jossey-Bass (Wiley), 2023.
- [The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership](https://www.leadershipchallenge.com/five-practices) and the [Leadership Practices Inventory](https://www.leadershipchallenge.com/leadership-assessments), The Leadership Challenge (John Wiley & Sons).
- Fred Dansereau, George Graen and William Haga, ["A Vertical Dyad Linkage Approach to Leadership within Formal Organizations"](https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073%2875%2990005-7), Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 13 (1), 1975.
- George Graen and Mary Uhl-Bien, ["Relationship-Based Approach to Leadership: Development of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory of Leadership over 25 Years"](https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/managementfacpub/57/), The Leadership Quarterly 6 (2), 1995.
- Daniel Goleman, *Emotional Intelligence*, Bantam Books, 1995; and ["What Makes a Leader?"](https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader), Harvard Business Review, 1998, reprinted January 2004.
- Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, the Johari Window, 1955.

*Written by Mark Anthony Llego for NASH Reviewer. Sources: Republic Act No. 9155; DepEd Order No. 024, s. 2020 and the PPSSH booklet; DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024; DepEd Memorandum No. 069, s. 2025; Kotter (1990); Kouzes and Posner (2023); Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995); Goleman (1998).*

---

© 2026 Mark Anthony Llego, NASH Reviewer. All rights reserved. You may quote up to 100 words from this article with the author's name, its title and a link. In research, cite it as: Llego, M. A. (2026, October 26). *Leadership vs Management for School Heads: Five Practices*. NASH Reviewer. https://nash.com.ph/blog/leadership-vs-management-school-heads. Any other reuse of the article, its charts or its data needs written permission: email support@nash.com.ph. Terms of Service: https://nash.com.ph/terms#website-content-and-data