This paper applies a Foucauldian lens to the field of educational leadership. The paper suggests that positioning educational leadership as a discourse enables it to be seen as a particular construct which depends upon one distinct view of the school, and of teachers and pupils/students. The analysis suggests that it is a hierarchical model which also is highly dependent on schools being conceived as involved in the production of quantifiable outcomes. The paper argues that this model prioritises the ‘examination’ – in the form of evaluations of staff, institutions, and students – and so exerts strong disciplinary power. In addition, the increased formalisation of leadership development through qualifications and certificated programmes, adds a further disciplinary dimension. The high status of leadership within educational management systems means that relevant individuals must seek to (re)form themselves in ‘leaderly’ ways in order to become approved subjects within this discursive regime. The paper suggests that Foucault’s ‘ethics’ – rapport à soi – provides an illuminating way of understanding this phenomenon.