A comparison of leadership theory and administrative theory will help to show whether there is a conflict for educational administrators between being a leader and being an administrator. Two definitions of leadership stress the importance of initiating activities within a group. In education, leadership necessitates decision-making within an organizational structure (an institution). The democratic nature of educational organizations means that decision-making is best shared with teachers and staff. Studies of leadership style reinforce this emphasis on shared decision-making. Administrative theories are quite diverse, but they generally emphasize that administration by an individual or a group involves dealing with cyclical activities and with policies, resources, and the execution of decisions, all within a larger system. Hence the nature of administration is dependent on the nature of the services to be delivered and on their organizational context. By relating leadership to administration, then, one sees that they both imply working with groups, involve decision-making (preferably democratic, in an educational institution), and are dependent on the nature of the institution within which they take place. Thus, because leadership is so closely related to administration, educational administrators should be both leaders and administrators. (RW)