How can the idea of leadership be understood in the context of modern day schools? What can contemporary perspectives on knowledge and the nature of its acquisition offer the practicing educator? Between the 'Real' and the 'Imagined' examines the essence of what it means to be a leader. Drawing on a lived experience of the complexities that face those in leadership positions, it explores espoused aims and accepted practices and challenges conventional ideas of traditional and transformative approaches. Within a framework of narrative inquiry, the author describes, analyses and reconceptualises issues and understandings that are central to the human experience and which impact heavily on the interactions between the leader and the led. He gains perspective by drawing on a variety of seemingly disparate lenses while drawing on insights from across cultures and epistemological frames. As a postmodern example of both the process and the product of 'coming-to-know', Between the 'Real' and the 'Imagined' offers graduate students, academic faculty and researchers in education, leadership and the social sciences a theoretically stimulating text while maintaining ‘a grounding in real life sensibility that will appeal to educational practitioners.’