The Leadership Multiplier: Building Principals Who Build Teachers 

How School Leaders Amplify PD Impact Across the System 

In every thriving school there’s a rhythm. One that comes not from rules or routines, but from people learning together. And at the center of that rhythm is building leadership. 

The best principals know their greatest impact doesn’t come from managing programs or chasing compliance. It comes from creating the conditions for teachers to grow. 

This article is the third in a five-part series exploring how schools are reimagining professional learning and instructional design to better serve educators and students. Read more from The Power of Comprehensive PD series here. 

Leadership as a Force Multiplier 

We talk a lot about what makes great teaching. We talk less about what makes great teaching possible.

Research has long shown that school leadership is the second-most influential factor in student achievement. But it’s the one that shapes everything else. Leaders decide how time is used, how collaboration happens, and whether professional learning feels like a checkbox or a shared mission.

Today’s most effective principals see themselves not just as managers or evaluators, but as multipliers: people who build systems where others can thrive.

From Manager to Builder 

Strong instructional leaders design environments where professional growth feels inevitable. 

They do this by: 

• Developing teacher leaders who can model, mentor, and influence peers. 

• Making collaboration part of the day, not an afterthought. 

• Aligning professional learning with what’s actually happening in classrooms, not just with policy goals. 

When teachers see that leadership is investing in their learning, the tone of the building shifts. Growth becomes cultural, not optional. 

Learn how schools are creating teacher-led PD systems. 

Building Schools That Learn 

The best principals treat their schools like living ecosystems. They listen as much as they lead. They ask questions before making changes. They model curiosity, reflection, and vulnerability, the same qualities they hope to see in teachers. 

In schools like these, feedback doesn’t feel like evaluation. It feels like collaboration. Teachers don’t guard their classrooms; they open them up. Leaders don’t impose PD; they cultivate it. 

When everyone is learning, professional development becomes the heartbeat of the school. 

The Long Game 

Good leaders focus on outcomes. Great ones focus on sustainability. 

They build systems that will still be strong when they’re gone: mentoring programs, teacher-led committees, feedback loops where teachers shape PD priorities and leadership decisions evolve in response. 

That’s the real multiplier effect: leadership that teaches people how to lead, not just what to do. 

As one superintendent put it during a leadership workshop, “When you develop teachers as leaders, you don’t just improve instruction, you future-proof your school.” 

The Takeaway 

The schools that sustain progress are the ones where leadership is shared, trust is built, and every teacher feels both supported and responsible for collective success. 

The multiplier effect isn’t about charisma or control. It’s about creating the kind of culture where learning (regardless of being an educator or a student) never stops.

Next in the Series: Bridging the Academic and Non-Academic Divide: How Supporting the Whole Child Starts with Supporting Teachers | Previous in the Series: From Workshop to Impact: How Coaching Sustains Real Change 

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