The paper develops a conceptual framework for teacher leadership and empirically verifies the existence of teacher leadership skills through a survey of 170 teachers. The model of transformational leadership, based on several leadership theories, is presented to advance increased teacher participation in instructional leadership. The model includes three major elements: potential or informal leadership, conflict or problem issues, and articulation and empowerment of solutions. The elements provide a format for analyzing issues in leadership as they apply to teachers and the process of instructional leadership. Formal and informal leadership are exercised by both principals and teachers; conflict of some kind is necessary for the emergence of effective leadership; and people must have common issues which need resolution. Essential to the leadership-empowerment cycle is having more than one leader. Though there may be one designated leader, there are other informal leaders. An ethical response to conflict is necessary in the leadership-empowerment cycle, with the leader responding in terms of group ethics and values. Implications for further study include the need to discover teacher leadership skills in a broadly based sampling of teachers who are mentors, members of school leadership or site-based management committees, more experienced teachers, teacher trainers, administrative interns, department chairpersons, specialized subject area teachers, and band and athletics directors. (SM)