This paper argues that the success of schools in disadvantaged township communities is shaped by an interplay of four dimensions: strategy, regulation, pedagogy and compensation. The paper presents these dimensions of successful leadership in secondary schools by drawing on a research study focusing on cases of three Soweto township secondary schools. Data sources included interviews, informal discussions and focus groups. The participants included principals, other members of the school management teams, teachers and parents. The case studies generated outcomes that contributed towards an emerging model of successful school leadership in township secondary schools facing multiple factors of deprivation. The successful school leadership practices explored in this study revealed that there were three discernible ways to characterise leadership practices in the case schools: principal-driven success; participative leadership driven by senior management; and teacher-led success.