Changes in public management in many countries have brought new structures and relations. The state is developing into a polycentric state with no single centre of power but with numerous networks, where power is distributed and decisions are negotiated. This is part of the background for the reason why leadership in schools is developing into polycentric patterns of networks. The school principal is but one agent in his/her web of relations, communication and power. Teachers and students are other agents in the principal’s web and in other webs in schools. Although most agents in schools act empowered and powerfull in a number of webs – be it in an intricant pattern of meetings and in the daily interactions and communication – there are also hierarchical levels of power. The paper will explore some of the numerous interplays between web and hierarchy in schools.