As you’ll read in this issue of Batten Reports, scholars in Garrett Hall approach the teaching of leadership through an “all of the above” approach. We combine rigorous data analysis and policy history with a crucial third step where most policy schools stop: teaching advocacy. Our core faculty also includes a strong cohort of psychologists and social entrepreneurs.

For example, research by Assistant Professor Eileen Chou explores when hierarchy is an effective mechanism of social organization, how trust can be used as a strategic tactic, and whether or not it really is “lonely at the top.” Assistant Professor Benjamin Converse investigates basic psychological processes such as motivation and social judgment, which have critical implications for management, leadership and policy. Associate Professor Christine Mahoney looks at how types of political frames are successful in shifting public policy debates in both the United States and the European Union. She also leads the University of Virginia’s social entrepreneurship effort.

Regrettably, too many in government—and the Academy—treat leadership as if it were some undefinable sorcerer’s blend. Leadership in reality is not such a mystery. We teach students specific leadership skills every day at U.Va.’s Batten School; they need, among other skills, to do five things well: negotiation, bargaining, persuasion, group dynamics and conflict resolution.

Leadership requires knowing where to go and charting a realistic path to get there. It thus requires identification of clear objectives and creative inventorying of the means available to obtain them. One cannot follow would-be leaders who do not know where they are going. It requires action in conjunction with forces that do not share many of your goals. Leadership requires a clear sense of goals and the willingness to set aside or compromise on smaller issues in pursuit of the greater good.

I recently completed, with two colleagues, a major study of more than 2,400 world leaders who ruled from 1975 to 2006; our list included leaders of all stripes, from Winston Churchill to Ho Chi Minh. As is previewed elsewhere in this issue, the book that resulted, Why Leaders Fight (Cambridge University Press), makes clear that individual leaders really do make a difference. Transformative leadership becomes a force multiplier, influencing others to change their behaviors and advance common objectives and community values.

This issue also brings news of the continued growth of our school. Our recent emphasis is on three areas where I believe investment can bring long-term societal benefits: education, health care and international programs. If we get education right, all sectors of society improve. Health care consumes more than 17 percent of our economy, yet we get mediocre outcomes as compared to other post-industrial nations. International programs strengthen our school and our society, for the challenges we address invite both multilateral cooperation and academic exchanges of best practices.

So we’ll advance these and other initiatives discussed in this issue, confident that we are on track to realize the original visions of the University of Virginia’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, and of the Batten family.