This paper presents a view of the principalship as it is subjectively perceived by the principal. The role is constrained by a number of factors. One of these is the principal's private office that both signifies and produces the principal's unique status and position. One of the principal's primary obligations is to maintain the social structure within and outside the school. Principals' obligations involve situation-defining or defining the school structure, but the definitions are not of their own making. Recent changes in managerial styles create new demands on the principal, including a greater demand for measurable indicators of efficiency and effectiveness. The principal is also constrained by the way time is measured within the bureaucracy and by its strict use as an organizing feature of school life. As a consequence of these constraints, the principal may easily acquire a sense of being a victim of circumstance rather than the creator of occasions. It may be that the principal is the human agency through which the organization defines itself. (Author/JM)