In this article I examine approaches to school leadership in Scandinavia by applying a historical lens. I start by drawing attention to some aspects of the ideology and the history of the Scandinavian education systems in order to discuss how these aspects intersect with the globalised policy trends, and where there is likely to be tensions between the global trends and the cultural and historical imperatives of schooling and school leadership in Scandinavia. The devolution of greater responsibilities to schools has contributed to a number of demands upon them, in particular on school principals, but so far, the emerging age of accountability has had only small consequences on classroom practice. My main argument is that even though there is a growing homogenisation of approaches to school leadership due to global forces, local traditions ensure that they are played out differently in national contexts. (Contains 47 footnotes.)