I'm always enthralled to read threads like this. I've been teaching for 8 years and am now, slowly, making moves for promotion. When I first mentioned my thoughts to others, I earnestly believed someone was going to say, "but you're still a new teacher, how could you know enough to lead a department?" And that's just a department - not a whole school managment role. As someone who came to teaching later, and with a background in management consultancy prior to teaching, I don't lack the maturity or theoretical knowledge of how to manage but in my professional mind I cannot believe that someone sees themselves as being ready to lead effectively, to guide, to inspire, to support, to facilitate, to challenge, to motivate, to mentor, to manage (even when times are tough) a staff of adults without a number of years of experience - I can't believe 4 is acceptable for a job of this magnitude. But, I'm in Scotland, perhaps the modesty my nation is famous for keeps me from accepting that someone who has taught for 195x4 = 780 days can lead a school forward in achieving excellence.