Evidence collected over the last 30 years suggests that effective school leaders significantly influence student learning and other aspects of school performance. Documented experience also indicates that individual leaders in failing organizations in various sectors, including education, can effect rapid, dramatic improvements. School turnaround is possible, but it takes a broader, concerted effort with daring leadership at the helm and persistent, achievement-oriented collaboration among staff. That is the stuff of which rapid, bad-to-great turnarounds across sectors are made. This guide aims to help districts attempting turnarounds understand the underlying characteristics of leaders likely to succeed in this unique context, based on the best available research to date. As more schools attempt turnarounds, increasingly accurate, detailed descriptions of leaders who are successful in this context will be possible. This is a companion guide to several other documents related to selecting leaders and teachers for turnaround schools. All of these guides seek to clarify the most critical competencies--or patterns of thinking, feeling, speaking and acting--that enable people to be successful in attempts to transform schools from failure to excellence quickly and dramatically. This guide provides leader competency definitions, school examples, and detailed levels of increasingly effective competence. (Contains 7 footnotes.) [Contributors include Lucy M. Steiner, Emily Ayscue Hassel and Bryan Hassel. For related reports, see "School Turnaround Leaders: Selection Toolkit. Part of the School Turnaround Collection from Public Impact" (ED539543); "School Turnaround Teachers: Competencies for Success. Part of the School Turnaround Collection from Public Impact" (ED539546); and "School Turnaround Teachers: Selection Toolkit. Part of the School Turnaround Collection from Public Impact" (ED539551).]