This article discusses designer leadership, a new approach to producing school leaders. Designer leadership is the product of the customization of leader preparation through the adoption of standards-based accreditation and licensing of school administrators. Designer leadership preparation is discussed in relation to its historical precursors, ascriptive and meritocratic leadership. The article contrasts the UK and the U.S. approaches to standards and highlights some significant discrepancies between the language of designer leader standards and the realities of practice. As part of what it will mean to play the new leadership game introduced by new standards regimes, the article foreshadows the emergence of a series of tensions for policymakers and practitioners concerned with school leadership career demographics, recruitment and selection, and the normative basis of standards.
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