In recent years school principals have been increasingly perceived as "leaders of leaders" (Sergiovanni, 1992). Various new roles stemming from this vision have increased pressures on them and have led to changes in work style. As part of their efforts to find creative solutions while working with varied communities, principals-leaders build a "shared vision" (Senge, 1995). The various forms of this vision make the schools unique, give the principal power to lead, stimulate school autonomy and give the "fulfilment component" content. An examination of the principals' worldview, which nourishes and is nourished by reality, helps us to understand the interactions between various cycles that characterize the management field. The aim of this article is to present three school reference cycles as they pertain to school principals and to examine their interrelationships: The reality cycle describes the daily reality principals face and how they cope with it, including the difficulties, pressures and successes they experience. The future cycle describes the innovations that the principals introduced into the various domains as indicators of changes deriving from their view of the future: preparing graduates for the twenty-first century, emphasis on the principals’ ability to cope with innovations while developing their image as leaders, the effect of the changes on the principals’ perceptions and their feelings after the changes are introduced. The vision cycle describes the sources of principals' visions, how "personal vision" and "shared vision" are integrated and the relationship between them and reality. The article presents a chapter from a doctoral work (Buvilski, 2002). This qualitative multi-case study (Miles & Huberman, 1994) was based on interviews with 30 principals from various sectors and settlement types, documents gathered and analyzed, and in situ observations. Data analysis centered on grounded theory and a theory was constructed that tries to describe the reality under investigation and to present new understandings of social processes in the natural setting (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The findings pertaining to the reality cycle describe the principals' complex daily reality together their long-range programs, which give them a feeling of creative leadership instead of just administrative management. The findings of the future cycle emphasize the power principals have to generate changes as a powerful motivator which in their eyes underscores their leadership. The vision cycle brings together findings that lead to a description of six unique patterns of vision that characterize this group of principals: the “achievement pattern”, emphasizing intellectual curiosity and skill development; the "child in the center" pattern aimed at multi-directional creativity; the ”Torah and love of Israel" pattern stressing the combination of religion or studies with patriotism; the "broad humanistic" pattern, emphasizing the multi-cultural conception; the "maintaining uniqueness vs. openness to the world" pattern that combines old with new; and the "school is life" pattern that combines Dewey's philosophical view with contemporary reality.

The conclusions indicate that vision is an ongoing and changing process that interacts with reality. It is a process that reflects the unique worldview of each principal, affecting his or her growth and the nature of the school he or she manages. The lecture will clarify the reference cycles and their combinations in five models. These create new bodies of knowledge that seek to illuminate the changing school culture in modern times.