"Taking the Lead: Investing in Early Childhood Leadership for the 21st Century" is a national initiative designed to build the capacity of the early care and education field to improve program quality. Taking the Lead is founded on the belief that a diverse cadre of early childhood and school-age care leaders is the key to achieving high-quality programs for children. This report looks at the role mentoring has played in the work of several Taking the Lead sites over the past 3 years. The report's first section, "Crisis in Early Care and Education--The Need for Leadership" discusses the challenge faced by Taking the Lead, its response, and the five key elements of leadership development: community partnerships, cultural/community context, relevant content, mentoring, and opportunities to exercise leadership. The next section focuses on mentoring, using observations from specific sites to address: (1) how to make meaning of mentoring; (2) effective approaches to mentoring; (3) community and cultural context; (4) personal and professional growth; and (5) learning opportunities for mentors and proteges. The final section discusses designing a personal mentoring approach and provides a list of questions to help assess the mentoring needs of early childhood emerging and existing leaders in the community. (EV)