Running head: BOOK REVIEW OF LEVERAGE LEADERSHIP

Book Review of Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools

Kelli D. Blankenburg
University of St. Thomas

BOOK REVIEW OF LEVERAGE LEADERSHIP

Book Review of Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools

The work of a principal is daunting. How does a principal prioritize and spend her time
on the right things? How does a principal know what will have the greatest effect on the
campus? The book, Leverage Leadership, A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools by
Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (2012) has the answers to those questions and more.
The author stresses right from the beginning that how a school leader spends her time
makes the difference between an ordinary school and an exceptional one (Bambrick-Santoyo,
2012, p. 2). The book describes seven core leadership areas called levers that successful
principals use to achieve excellence. These levers are research based and have been proven to be
consistent, transformational and replicable in many different schools (Bambrick-Santoyo,
2012, p.9). Each chapter is loaded with examples, templates, step-by-step directions and even a
DVD containing video clips to support the implementation of the material. The reader takes
away a toolkit for executing high quality instruction and school culture on her campus.
The Seven Levers
Bambrick-Santoyo lists seven levers that are pivotal to building an outstanding school.
Four of the levers are instructional and three are cultural. The instructional levers are data-driven
instruction, observation and feedback, instructional planning, and professional development.
The cultural levers are student culture, staff culture, and managing school leadership teams.
While all of these levers are very broad, the book provides a specific plan to develop each one.
Data Driven Instruction
The first lever is data-driven instruction. Bambrick-Santoyo provides a model for datadriven instruction. He states that the four keys are to define rigor through how students are
assessed, dig into how students struggle, implement new teaching plans in response, and then put

BOOK REVIEW OF LEVERAGE LEADERSHIP

systems and procedures in place to repeat the process (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012, p.25). One core
idea regarding this lever is that data meetings provide a greater insight to instruction than one
observation.
Observation and Feedback
The next lever is observation and feedback. The author recommends weekly
observations by the administrative team followed by a coaching feedback session that same
week. He suggests small improvements based on best practices to steer teacher practice. The
author includes a scheduling document to assist the leader as well.
Planning
The third lever is planning. Imagine submitting lesson plans in advance, having an
administrator review them in detail, meeting to discuss them and then revising them all before
instruction begins. Bambrick-Santoyo describes a level of depth with lesson planning that is sure
to increase the quantity of impactful lessons.
Professional Development
The fourth lever of instruction is professional development. In this chapter the author
describes the importance of professional development leading to action in the classroom. He
provides tips and testimonials for making every professional development moment relevant.
Student Culture
Part two of the book delves into the next three levers on culture. Student culture is the
fifth lever. The book explains that student culture is built systematically through routines,
practice and attention to the smallest details. Student culture systems are the foundation upon
which students develop virtuous action (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012, p. 169). Clearly, student
culture is an important component of exceptional schools.

BOOK REVIEW OF LEVERAGE LEADERSHIP

Staff Culture
Staff culture is the sixth lever. The author describes how to establish a vision for the staff
culture and to hire accordingly. He explains the importance of knowing what is going on in the
school and intentionally building and maintaining the desired culture. A culture tracker is
provided along with tips for finding time in a leaders schedule.
Managing School Leadership Teams
The final lever is managing school leadership teams. The author relays that the principal
should identify the instructional leaders, train them, give feedback and practice, and then
evaluate them on the quality of their instructional leadership (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2012, p.224).
Errors of leadership meetings are given along with suggestions on how to have better meetings.
Execution
The final parts of the book deal with how to practically execute the seven levers, advice
for superintendents, and the specific plans for professional development workshops. All of these
methods are supported with videos, slides, and templates. Armed with the tools of data-driven
instruction, observation and feedback, planning, professional development, student culture, staff
culture, and managing school leadership teams, a principal can be confident that she has the tools
to leverage her leadership. Leverage Leadership leaves the reader with the knowledge of how a
school leader should spend her time on what really matters in schools. In conclusion, the book
contains everything a principal needs to know to build an extraordinary school.

BOOK REVIEW OF LEVERAGE LEADERSHIP

Reference
Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional
schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.