Transformational Leadership of School Principals in Optimizing the Management of Teacher E-Performance Through Ruang GTK: A Multi-Site Study at SMP Negeri 2 Plaosan and SMP Negeri 1 Takeran

School principals hold a strategic role in directing teachers to use the Ruang GTK platform for managing teacher e-performance (e-Kinerja), as mandated by Regulation of the Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel No. 7327/B.B1/HK.03.01/2023 on the School Principal Competency Model. However, the success of this digitalization depends less on system availability than on the quality of principal leadership in managing change. This study describes in depth how principals enact transformational leadership, namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration in Bass and Riggio's framework [2], to optimize teacher e-performance management through Ruang GTK. A descriptive qualitative approach with a multi-site design was used at SMP Negeri 2 Plaosan and SMP Negeri 1 Takeran, Magetan Regency. Data were gathered through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation with principals, vice principals, and teachers as key informants, then analyzed using Miles and Huberman's interactive model together with cross-site analysis. Trustworthiness was established through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Findings show that principals at both sites consistently enacted all four dimensions: exemplary conduct built teachers' trust in digital change; inspirational motivation reframed e-Kinerja from an administrative burden into a professional responsibility; intellectual stimulation drove collaborative problem solving; and individualized consideration provided mentoring matched to each teacher's digital competence. These results affirm transformational leadership as the primary driver of school digital transformation, offering a reference for developing principal competencies in the era of digital performance management.