This paper examines the career paths of principals and senior managers in the Scottish Further Education Sector. The research is set within a discourse of tension and polarization between lecturing staff and their managers who, it has been argued, are perceived to have somewhat different ideological values (Elliot, 1996; Randle & Brady, 1997). Contrary to this, the research indicates that the majority of principals and senior managers have arrived in their post following a career in the education system, have few or no formal management qualifications and rely on experiential learning that draws heavily on their previous posts within further education (FE). This would suggest that the issues of tension and polarisation are far more complex and we postulate that given that principals and senior managers appear to have a common background to lecturing staff, their educational values are more likely to be in congruence than opposition. The second part of this paper rehearses the debate about management relations in colleges with reference to other research done in the area, and draws tentative conclusions on the origins of tensions and recommends where further research needs to be undertaken. The main source of research for this paper comes from a survey of Principals and Senior Managers carried out by the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU) on behalf of the Scottish Executive (SE) in 1999.