Overview

Culture of Excellence is a deeply practical leadership book for school leaders who want to build high-performing learning cultures without sacrificing trust, wellbeing, or sustainability. Drawing on decades of work with principals, leadership teams, and education systems around the world, Lee Crockett reframes excellence as something far more than improvement plans, initiatives, or performance metrics. Instead, excellence is shown to be a cultural outcome-shaped daily by leadership presence, decision-making under pressure, professional relationships, and the way learning is experienced by both staff and students. This book offers a clear and coherent pathway for leaders navigating complexity, change, and rising expectations. Crockett challenges the dominant myths that excellence is driven by overwork, compliance, or individual heroics, and replaces them with a research-informed, experience-tested framework focused on intentional leadership, shared responsibility, and sustainable practice. Through real-world school contexts, reflective prompts, and applied insights, readers are guided to examine how their leadership behaviours either strengthen or erode the culture they are trying to build. Written specifically for principals, superintendents, system leaders, and educators with leadership responsibility, Culture of Excellence bridges strategy and lived practice. It supports leaders who are tired of surface-level reform and are ready to engage in the deeper cultural work required to improve learning, strengthen professional trust, and restore meaning to leadership. This is not a book about doing more. It is a book about leading with clarity, intention, and humanity-so that excellence becomes sustainable, collective, and deeply embedded in the life of a school.

Full Product Details

9781738053186

Table of Contents

Reviews

Excellence is far too rarely spoken about in education. Lee Crockett pushes beyond the familiar ""good to great"" narrative and reminds us that excellence is not about perfection, but about progress, momentum, and impact. This book makes excellence real-something that can be lived, measured, and sustained. John Hattie, Melbourne Laureate Professor Emeritus School improvement is crowded with frameworks and slogans. What's rare is a model that respects the real complexity of schools while still offering leaders a clear path forward. Culture of Excellence does exactly that. An essential read for leaders serious about building better schools. Adam Voigt, Founder & CEO, Real Schools Lee Crockett gives school leaders a genuinely usable roadmap for working toward excellence. His pathway helps adults lead with coherence, trust, and shared meaning-so excellence becomes not just a slogan, but a lived experience. Jennifer Abrams, Author of Having Hard Conversations Lee demonstrates exceptional leadership in teaching and learning through a clear vision and collaborative approach. His Culture of Excellence work challenges leaders to think differently while offering practical strategies that empower educators and improve outcomes. Mark Battistella, Schools Performance Leader, Catholic Education South Australia Culture of Excellence is an inspiring and pragmatic guide for educators striving to create meaningful, future-focused learning communities. It blends clarity, conviction, and practical wisdom in a way that genuinely elevates leadership practice. Paul Watson, Principal, Emmanuel Catholic College This book doesn't just describe what excellence looks like-it walks leaders through how to build it, grow it, and sustain it. Clear, thoughtful, and practical, it feels like a handbook leaders will return to again and again. Eva Kannis-Torry, Principal, Thebarton Senior College Culture of Excellence captures exactly what modern schools need: clarity, purpose, and a shared vision for excellence. It is a powerful resource for strategic leaders building thriving, future-focused learning environments. Tyson Grinham, Principal, Lockleys North Primary School With 'excellence' so often used but rarely unpacked, this book offers both challenge and clarity. It forces leaders to rethink practice while providing practical tools to ensure the right work gets done in complex school environments. Tim Hildebrandt, Leadership Consultant, Independent Schools NSW

Author Information

Lee Crockett transforms research and reflection into action, helping schools and systems worldwide lead with clarity, purpose, and wellbeing. Through his Culture of Excellence and Professional Wellness programs, he equips leaders to create meaningful change that endures beyond the workshop.

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