The research reported in this article contributes new understanding of leadership in the context of change, by investigating how the views, values and professional practices of those in leadership roles were revealed, interplayed and changed during a period of turbulence in a school in England. The governors of the school proposed changing the school's legal status from a local-authority school to an academy, which is an independent school funded by the State but governed and managed by an Academy Trust. In the current work on structural change affecting schools in England, there has been little real-time study of what it is like to be both a policy actor and a policy subject during a period of turbulence. In this article, which reports on events over a period of 18 months, I explore the actions and perceptions of three actors in leadership roles. I examine their engagement in local agenda-setting and decision-making, including its implications for their values, identity and professional practice. The research reported in this article illustrates that, however confidently structural change is announced and promoted by policy-makers, its enactment may be problematic and inconclusive.