French principals are exposed to paradoxes. Their ethics and values lead them to maintain a republican moral stance by affirming their attachment to public services and secularism. Their membership to a professional group within a bureaucratic organization does not predispose them to endorse managerial ideas and practices. However, as the New Public Management enters the education system, they are increasingly being required to focus on school organization and improvement. They have therefore to assume hybrid roles and responsibilities, between administration, management, and leadership, while the organizational structure remains relatively inflexible, and resources such as support are lacking. This creates a series of tensions that are presented in this chapter along with the moral agency that many principals adopt in their relationships within schools. Between hierarchical prescription and autonomy, between cooperation and conflict, between citizenship and pedagogy, they seek ways for capacity building and school improvement in a civic and egalitarian perspective. Although they are trained mainly as administrators and State representatives, they learn by doing to become managers and leaders without much recognition for their creativity and innovation. They also hardly reflect on themselves as leaders despite leadership practices that can be observed in their daily activities. [For the complete volume, "The Cultural and Social Foundations of Educational Leadership: An International Comparison. Educational Governance Research. Volume 16," see ED615841.]