This paper is about how criticism from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, based on New Public Management, affects principals' leadership. The result builds on experiences from an on-going case study that started 2011 and that will be finished in 2015. Data is continuously collected through surveys, participating in meetings, interviews, informal conversations and documents. Two examples that the principals use to improve the results on the basis of the Schools Inspectorate's reports are presented. The first example consists of a so called research circle where we as researchers together with a principal and a group of teachers try to develop instruments to meet criticism of shortcomings in the principal's leadership; low goal achievement and an unsafe school environment. The second example describes how the municipality initiated a development project where selected schools charted their own development needs and how they thereby are supposed to take action in order to response to criticism of low goal achievement.
Papers accepted in the review process will be published in a special issue (in English language) of Journal Leadership in Education, that is published by the National School for Leadership in Education, Slovenia.