Strategic leadership is a critical component in the effective development of schools. Currently the educational debate is shifting to focus on how short-term improvements can become strategically sustainable. This article will put forward the view that renewed attention needs to be paid to the strategic dimension of leadership to ensure this sustainability. Much of the orthodox perspective of leadership development suggests that new leaders tend to first address current administrative and managerial issues to build confidence and organizational ability before moving to a strategic and futures activities. The article argues that schools need a concurrent or parallel view of leadership development in which leaders focus not only on the "now" of school improvement but concurrently build strategic capability within the school. (Contains 3 figures.)