Key insights

• Instruction and culture work together (p6).
  Strong instruction without strong culture falters, and strong culture without strong instruction produces order without rigour. The most effective leaders build both at the same time to ensure that classrooms are purposeful, calm, and focused on learning.
  
• Data should drive teaching, not the other way around (p25).
  Assess, analyse, act. Interim, common, transparent, and cumulative assessments help leaders and teachers understand what pupils have and have not mastered. Teaching then adapts to meet the specific needs identified through the data.
  
• Tight coaching cycles beat occasional evaluations (p127).
  Frequent, focused observations with one bite-size action step lead to faster improvement than infrequent formal evaluations. The rhythm of “see it, name it, do it” ensures feedback becomes visible change in classrooms.
  
• Plan backwards, then teach for mastery (p89).
  Unit planning starts with the end point in mind, linking content and skills to clear outcomes. High-quality shared plans lift weaker teachers and create consistency in expectations, pacing, and assessment.
  
• Professional development works when staff practise the gap (p181).
  PD should be based on real needs identified through school data. Teachers must rehearse specific techniques, receive feedback, and revisit them soon after to ensure the learning has stuck.
  
• Culture is built through routines and visible leadership (p221).
  Culture is not created through slogans but through repetition, modelling, and correction. Leaders must define expectations, practise routines with staff and students, and maintain them publicly every day.
  
• Lead teams like a coach (p289).
  Leadership teams should be trained before the year begins, operate with clarity of purpose, and use meetings to review data, plan support, and drive improvement. Consistency and follow-through transform leadership from words into impact.
  

Links to the 54 behaviours

• S5: Establish collective goals – aligns with Bambrick-Santoyo’s focus on clarity of purpose and shared priorities.
  
• S6: Focus on the main thing – reflects the discipline of concentrating time and energy on the highest-leverage actions.
  
• S8: Find the lead measures – connects directly with using data cycles and measurable actions to predict improvement.
  
• C1: Hold high standards – mirrors the expectation that students and staff consistently meet well-defined standards.
  
• C3: Establish routines – supports the emphasis on embedding predictable systems that build culture.
  
• L1: Lead by example – highlights the importance of visible leadership and modelling best practice.
  
• T7: Hold meetings for impact – matches the approach of using leadership meetings as focused coaching and planning sessions.
  
• Y9: Build habits that last – captures the consistency and repetition that underpin sustained improvement.
  

Potential actions for school leaders

• Implement an assessment cycle that is common, transparent, and cumulative. Use the outcomes to plan reteaching and celebrate gains.
• Introduce weekly coaching with one precise action step per teacher. Rehearse each step and revisit within a week to observe progress.
• Publish three key school priorities for the term, each with clear lead measures reviewed in every team meeting.
• Reset student routines through a simple cycle of hook, model, practise, and debrief, ensuring leaders are visible throughout the process.
• Redesign professional development sessions so staff can practise the identified skill gap and receive immediate feedback.
  

Why it matters

Leverage Leadership 2.0 offers a clear framework for transforming leadership into measurable impact. It demonstrates how precision, rhythm, and follow-through allow every leader to build great teaching and a strong culture, not through charisma but through systems that last. The book aligns closely with the Everyone Succeeds framework by showing how strategic intent becomes daily behaviour that improves teaching, learning, and staff development. Readers can explore the book and author further online to deepen their understanding.

Favourite quote

“Exceptional school leaders succeed because of how they use their time: what they do and when they do it.”

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