This article provides an account of a range of research and development endeavours in the Western Balkans and in Kyrgystyan in which the non-positional approach to teacher leadership has been deployed in various ways. The article illuminates how, in the case of the Balkan countries, the support for teacher leadership has been successfully linked to wider reform efforts. The article argues that empowering teachers in the ways discussed here can revitalise institutions and societies through deeper democratic participation. Evidence presented here shows how teachers can become agents of change who promote inter-cultural understanding and democratic values.