This paper describes how administrator preparation programs can help future education leaders to value, understand, and use the democratic strategy of deliberative dialogue and action. The purpose of the strategy is to engage in a new way with teachers, parents, and other stakeholders about problems in their local public schools. Follow-up reflective writings of graduate students who participated in simulated democratic, deliberative dialogues with non-educators predicted immediate and long-term benefits in implementing dialogue events. In addition, their reflections on the simulations revealed challenges likely to confront many educational administration students if they are to shift their perspectives on leadership and jointly participate in defining and acting upon local education problems with parents and other non-educators. Genuine, public interactions that lead to productive action toward school improvement may require administrators to relinquish traditional ways of partnering with their publics. (Contains 1 figure and 3 footnotes.)