The authors of this report comment on several aspects of the relationships between the experiences, educational philosophy, leadership style, and professional behavior of a reform-minded urban school principal in Ontario (Canada). The paper discusses a number of observed and reported activities of the principal, including his behavior when introducing the researchers to his school, his reports of a previous principalship, and his response to a crisis in school-community relations. The researchers conclude that while perhaps appearing arbitrary to outsiders, the principal's actions and the environment in which he chose to act were "minded" expressions of his experience-based and image-related personal philosophy (a form of personal practical knowledge), and whether conscious or not served to support and enhance acceptance by others of his approach to schooling. (PGD)