Leadership is a topic of vast exploration, with different scholars coming up with various definitions, descriptions and characteristics of effective leadership. The main aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perceptions of senior educational leaders working in the Department of Education in Malta. The study was investigated from a constructivist and interpretivist paradigm. The data gathered through in-depth interviews was analysed manually using a hybrid approach method. Amongst various concepts, two salient themes on leadership emerged, namely how these leaders view leadership, and the importance of healthy relationships in leadership. The findings demonstrated that the participants in the exploration have a clear notion of leadership, and they appreciate that for effective leadership, healthy relationship with the stakeholders should be an important aspect. Two important recommendations that were established from this study are organised professional development programmes in leadership, and training programmes focusing on how to build healthy collegial relationships.