The research reported here probes the work of ten successful headteachers working in a range of urban and suburban schools of different sizes with different school populations and free school meals indices of socio-economic status (SES) of between 20% and 62%. Ten themes emerged which together indicate not only the intellectual, social and emotional com-plexities of successful leadership in schools in challenging circumstances, but also how these ten headteachers manage to sustain their success: (i) performativity, vision and resilience; (ii) building an inclusive community; (iii) narratives of identity; (iv) values, beliefs and the ethical dimension; (v) a renewal of trust; (vi) moral purpose, agency and culture of courage; (vii) expectation and achievement; (viii) leaders who learn; (ix) building internal capital through collectively and (x) the passion of commitment. This paper will focus upon five which seem to be of particular importance within schools which serve disadvantaged communities: (i) performativity, vision and resilience; (ii) building an inclusive community; sustaining involvement, (iii) narratives of identity, (iv) values, beliefs and the ethical dimensions, and (v) a renewal of trust.