When I set out on the journey many years ago that led to this book, I had reams of data from interviewing education leaders and hearing their feedback on the tools I had developed. But I was at a loss for the best way to help others use this information. Whereas my first book was designed for change leaders in a variety of nonprofit sectors, after it was published I got feedback that a second book was needed—aimed specifically at leaders in education. As many education leaders attempted to use the techniques in the first book, they asked me questions more specifically related to their practice. I then understood the value of the book you are about to read. Whereas Leading Change Step-by-Step outlined general tools and techniques and provided examples from several sectors, High-Payoff Strategies: How Education Leaders Get Results takes those general tools and lessons and makes them specific for immediate application by education leaders.

I did not come to this realization on my own. I had continual feedback from many dedicated education leaders who were using the materials and found them valuable yet did not hesitate to let me know how they could be improved and what additional material was needed. Therefore, many thanks to those critical friends: Andy Cole, Mark Shellinger, and those participating in the National SAM Innovation Project; Glenn Pethel and the group of principals from Gwinnett County; Douglas Anthony and the principals of Prince George's County; Tricia McManus and the principals from Hillsborough County; Ann Clark and Jevelyn Bonner-Reid from Charlotte-Mecklenburg; Tom Boasberg and Mikel Royal from Denver—and all my colleagues in New York City, including Marina Cofield and chancellor Carmen Fariña.

Although the ideas in this book are my own, I have benefitted from the support and insights of my colleagues at Wallace. I owe special thanks to our president, Will Miller, who always tries to eliminate obstacles to getting good work done. He, Lucas Held, Jessica Schwartz, and Edward Pauly have been important thought partners throughout.

I received much needed encouragement from many people. I'd especially like to thank Linda Cantillano, Simon Fenster, Gay Green Steinhorn, Cindy Green, Anne DiGiovanni, Nicholas Pelzer, Rochelle Herring, Aiesha Eleusizov, Carolina Velasquez, Christine Kudrav, and Abby Spiro.

Of course, to my editor at Jossey-Bass, Margie McAneny: thanks for nudging me most diplomatically to get this done and for always making my work better.