Against the wider background of increasing interest in pupil voice, this article gives examples of the student involvement activity in the largest of the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) development and enquiry initiatives: the Networked Learning Communities project. In programme-level research, student voice and participation were commonly reported as a significant dimension of network development. Recognizing and conceptualizing such involvement as leadership is discussed in relation to students' roles as active agents in improving learning in schools and networks of schools. A study for NCSL indicated generally low levels of discourse among those in schools around what leadership might be, particularly among students, but indicated a preference for people-based, relational forms. It is argued that a perception of leadership as a relational process of influence rather than of hierarchical power strengthens the possibility of recognizing the potential of students as leaders. Schools and networks of schools are suggested as important sites for the enactment of leadership as influence through lateral modalities of power such as negotiation and persuasion which may contest and change existing structures. (Contains 10 notes and 1 table.)