Gurr (2015) argued that successful school principals do not lead alone. On the contrary, they are also concerned to developing an entrepreneurship leadership approach by building the capacity of non-teaching staff. In fact school principals, in general, must incorporate an entrepreneurial dimension during their leadership practice because nowadays greater pressure is placed on them, since governments, communities and parents are demanding more, along with the potential limited resources provided in school settings with regards the money and time allocation, as well as school personnel (Pashiardis, 2014). Recently, Pashiardis and Brauckmann (2018) argued that school principals of the 21^stcentury need to promote an entrepreneurial leadership practice which includes the involvement of external actors in the school’s everyday activities, alongside with building strategic coalitions with external agents, engaging in a market approach to leadership, as well as acquiring more resources for the school´s smooth operation. Also, as it is proposed by the Pashiardis – Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework(see Pashiardis, 2014; Brauckmann & Pashiardis, 2011), school principals’ Entrepreneurial Leadership Style is rather contextual and its application should be more closely connected with regards to the more immediate environment that schools are operating in. 

However, research in this domain neglects to acknowledge the personal perspective of the school principal that interacts with these external actors for the benefit of the school. Møller et al. (2014) argued that, in the school leadership field, it is of high importance to consider how school principals’ identities incorporate school principals’ experiences during their leadership practice. Crow and Møller (2017), argued that identities are connected to practice. In other words, they have supported that identities are not only what people say about themselves, but how they practice during their daily activities. The construction of personal identity is a values–informed process influenced by the individual’s biographical context, which includes histories and values (Crow et al., 2016). Therefore, in the case of school leadership, the notion of identities connects school principals to his or her group (Lumby and English, 2009) and at the same time, these identities shape and mold his or her leadership practice (Whiteman, Scribner & Crow, 2014).

Having said that, this study focuses on school principals’ personal identities linked to their entrepreneurial leadership practice. The importance of a school principal’s entrepreneurship feature, which encompassed the various external stakeholders, is considered as an essential part of school leadership together with his/her personal identity and still must be studied. By doing this, we could enrich our understanding on how school principals’ personal perspective affects their entrepreneurial leadership practice with regard to the external context in each case. Specifically, the main purpose of this piece of research was to understand the role of school principals’ personal identities as they were formed by the school principals’ life critical incidents and the effect on their entrepreneurial leadership practice. More specifically, the main research question that guided this study was the following: To what extent principals’ personal identity influences their external entrepreneurial leadership practice?

In this research, a case study approach was followed, focusing on a typical urban school from the primary education system in Cyprus. Specifically, the selection of the school principal was based on a previous study with school principals. Based on specific measurements about school principals’ leadership styles, utilizing the Pashiardis and Brauckmann Holistic Leadership Framework, this school principal indicated a strong entrepreneurial leadership practice and therefore was selected for this study. The preference for qualitative methods and particularly the case study research approach is observed in various recent studies on school principals’ identity and leadership actions (e.g. Murakami and Törnsen, 2017; Robertson, 2017; Notman, 2016; Scribner and Crow, 2012). Specifically, in this study the focus was given to an in- depth investigation of the school principal’s personal identity together with his daily entrepreneurial leadership actions and behaviors (Pashiardis, 2014; Brauckmann & Pashiardis, 2011) referring to the relation between the various external school stakeholders. This case study drew from specific research data collection tools, including individual interviews and observations. Particularly, through the interview process we presented the school principal’s personal identity profile. The semi-structured interview protocol was derived from the International Successful School Leadership Programme – Research Strand 3: Principal identities. The interview protocol was translated in Greek and adjusted to the Cypriot education context. Following, daily observations were conducted with regards to the school principal’s entrepreneurial leadership practices. Hammersley-Fletcher (2013), argued that during an observation researchers could identify and understand more easily school principals’ identities and values system. The data collection timeframe in this school was implemented in one week. Following, the transcripts of the interview data were analyzed through a detailed coding analysis scheme based on school principals’ personal identities. The findings contributed to the disclosure of the school principal’s critical life incidents, based on his personal identity and to the extent to which it defined his personal behavior and actions. Moreover, the collected observational data were analyzed based on the open coding analysis. Finally, we provided answers to our main research question through the constant comparative method analysis across school principal’s personal identity and his entrepreneurial leadership actions and behavior.

In his effort to build relations and contacts with external stakeholders, the school principal promoted values connected with kindness, politeness and respect, as they were defined by his personal identity. Αs it was unveiled during the interview, throughout his childhood years, the principal was very polite, kind and respected people and thus, he was considered a child with excellent social skills. For instance, as the principal mentioned, even after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 (United Nations Security Council Resolution, 1974; 1983), he continued to maintain excellent relations with Turkish Cypriots. Furthermore, during his military service, he gained a lot of experience in organization and administration, as well as attributes in dealing with other external military services. Moreover, as an assistant school principal, he was the liaison between the parents’ association and the school. As a school principal in this school and based on his politeness and his strong social skills, he obtained permission from the Ministry of Education and approached various organizations and institutions to obtain sponsorships and created an autonomous kitchen within the school premises. By doing this, he managed to secure free lunch for students who faced financial problems. Also, he worked very closely with students' parents, educational and clinical psychologists, resulting in a reduction in the disciplinary and literacy problems faced by several students. His personal identity, as it was formed throughout his life, has helped him to create strong alliances and to approach the various external stakeholders more easily in a beneficiary way for his school. Consequently, we can claim that principals’ entrepreneurial leadership aspect, might be values driven and affected by their personal identity. Therefore, educational institutes and training centres must take into consideration the importance of a principal’s personal identities and values system as an important element in supporting their entrepreneurial activities.

Brauckmann, S. and Pashiardis, P. (2011), “A Validation Study of the Leadership Styles of a Holistic Leadership Theoretical Framework”, International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 11-32. Crow, G., Day, C. & M.ller, J. (2016). Framing research on school principals’ identities. International Journal of Leadership in Education, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 265 – 277. Crow, G. & Møller, J. (2017). Professional identities of school leaders across international contexts: An introduction and rationale. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, pp. 1–10. Gurr, D. (2015). A Model of Successful School Leadership from the International Successful School Principalship Project. Societies, Vol. 5, pp, 136- 150. Møller, J., Crow, G., Murakami, E., Skott, P., Tornsen, M. & Johnson, L. (2014, September). “Researching Principals' Professional Identities Across National Contexts”, paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research (2014), 1 – 5 September, Hungary, Budapest. Murakami, E. & T.rnsen. (2017). Female secondary school principals: Equity in the development of professional identities. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 806–824 Notman, R. (2016). Professional Identity, adaptation and the self: Cases of New Zealand school principals during a time of change. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, pp. 1-15. Pashiardis, P. (2014) (Ed.), Modelling School Leadership Across Europe: In Search of New Frontiers, Springer, Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London. Pashiardis,P. & Brauckmann, S. (2018). New Public Management in Education: A Call for the Edupreneurial Leader?, Leadership and Policy in Schools, DOI: 10.1080/15700763.2018.1475575 Robertson, S. (2017). Transformation of professional identity in an experienced primary school principal: A New Zealand case study. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, pp. 1–16. Scribner, S. & Crow, G. (2012). Employing professional identities: Case study of a high school principal in a reform setting. Leadership and Policy in Schools, Vol. 11, pp. 243 – 274. United Nations Security Council Resolution. (1974). United Nations Security Council Resolution 360, adopted on 16 August 1974. United Nations Security Council Resolution. (1983). United Nations Security Council Resolution 360, adopted on 18 November 1983. Whiteman, R.S. Paredes – Scribner, S. & M. Crow, G. (2015). “Principal professional identity and the cultivation of trust in urban schools”, in Khalifa, M., Arnold, N. W., Osanloo, F.A. & Grant, M. C. (eds), Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership (pp. 578 - 590). Rowman & Littlefield, USA.