**4.1 Contexts of excellence**

One of the key factors found to be foremost in leading excellent contexts is the ability of leaders "to get things done by working with and through people" [46], regardless of the socio-cultural conditions within their setting. They seem not deterred by the circumstances and factors often attributed to the reasons of underperformance in other institutions. The question is, what makes institutions, particularly those operating in extreme contexts excel? For any institution to succeed, there is a need for stakeholders to pursue greatness, in turn they need skilled leaders that can create enabling working conditions [15]. Institutional excellence can be summarised according to the following abilities:


*Deconstructing Leadership: Engaging Leading through a Socially Constructed Process DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90630*


When planning a context based development program for school leaders, it is important for service providers to consider designing the provision of their programmes in line with the aforementioned abilities to graduate leaders that are able to succeed in their contexts.

#### **4.2 Extreme contexts**

Leading in extreme contexts largely remain a path for deeper exploration. Contexts that are extreme can be categorised as environments that exist under difficult conditions and are mostly characterised by chaos [11], intolerable circumstances [10], underperforming contexts [15, 16] and challenging contexts [9, 35]. In all these situations, the contexts are fraught with negative social issues that, to a great extent, contribute to the situation. Often these extenuating circumstances are arguably propelled by subtle forces that manage to somewhat spread a wave of negative atmosphere. Because education spaces were sites of contesting for alternative kind of society [11] and perhaps social order in fighting the apartheid regime in South Africa, most stakeholders in these spaces, particularly in extreme contexts have not unlearned resistant attitudes and related conduct. Hence the chaotic and underperformance challenges continue to be, among others, prevalent. Problems in all these situations are said to be traceable back to policy processes and documents inclusive of the national development plan (NDP) (Kriel in [11]).

In light of the above, the circumstances under which leaders in these contexts' work is discouraging. Resulting into low level of motivation and inability to account for occurrences and poor performance in their institutions [16]. They often have a sense of powerlessness and are not able to turn their situation and performance around [9]. Apparently intensifying the performance agreement of leaders can enable the correct improvement because such agreements are linked to development [16]. Sadly most of such performance agreements in these contexts are said to be superficial [11], implying that whatever development scheduled from such outcomes, may equally not address the real areas for development for these leaders. Consequently, leaders' practices and school context in this instance are symbiotic. Getting the leaders' act right through targeted development programme and improving practices can possibly help turn the situation of their institution around and enable a suitably constructed social order within such spaces.

Leading within distinct contexts require concerted effort to disrupt the patterns and attitudes that perpetuate disorder by intently focusing on developing leaders in such institutions to act decisively and change the prevailing narrative. Zeichner in [11] argues that restructuring of these sites to be more collaborative and professional is linked with social problems such as contradictions and tensions. Therefore, there is a need for leaders in such contexts to disempower these social challenges and assume authority. Achieving this colossal intention, necessitates a development of judicious and *socially structured process of leading and learning change methods*. This chapter proposes the following, to construct such social process:


The above directly respond to the department of basic educations' (DBE) strategic priorities in response to the realisation of schooling 2030 action plan in South Africa [25].
