A largely unseen phenomenon is shaping the direction of higher education today: the growth of leadership programs. These programs are hidden ladders that help the talented move up toward university presidencies. Their number and importance are rapidly increasing, and they will more and more determine who makes decisions in higher education. More needs to be known about them. "Lessons in Leadership" is the first book to address them directly, highlighting their histories and achievements. In it, the directors of most major programs in the country describe their focus, curriculum, and participants' reactions. The book especially spotlights programs aimed at minorities, since they stand to benefit most from them and since their participation will likely have the greatest impact on U.S. higher education. Although the new programs share many features with their older brothers, they provide special perspective on the challenges facing minority administrators in higher education. Leadership programs are an intriguing, important, half-concealed force in higher education today. "Lessons in Leadership" reveals them to a wider public. This volume has three sections. Part I, Hidden Springboard: The Importance of Leadership Programs, analyzes the rapid demographic changes occurring in American society and their consequences for higher education. It contains the following chapters: (1) Why Leadership Programs Matter (D. J. Leon); (2) Latino Demographic and Institutional Issues in Higher Education: Implications for Leadership Development (R. O. Martinez); (3) Experiences of Presidents of Color: When Perceptions Challenge Reality (R. Haro); and (4) African American Leadership in Higher Education (Jackie Thomas). Part II, The First Wave: Traditional Leadership Programs (G. A. Smith and M. Ross), looks at two of the major players in higher education leadership and describes the changes in the programs over the years. It contains: (5) The Harvard Institutes for Higher Education: Thirty-Five Years of Fostering Leadership Development for Administrators of Color (J. P. Zolner). Part III, The New Leaders: Programs Focused on Minorities, focuses on the latest entrants: programs created in part because of the lack of diversity in the traditional offerings. It contains the following chapters: (6) Handing One Another Along: The Creation of AASCU's Millennium Leadership Initiative (R. Lauth); (7) Leadership Development Program in Higher Education: Asian Pacific American Leaders in Higher Education--An Oxymoron? (A. Yamagata-Noji); (8) The Kellogg MSI Leadership Fellows Program (J. P. Merisotis and K. Aveilhe); (9) Latino Leadership Development: Programs and Continuing Challenges (T. R. Martinez and P. L. Valdez); (10) Evolving a LEAP for Latinos: Lessons Learned (D. J. Leon and T. R. Martinez); (11) No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The California State University Executive Leadership Development Program, 1992-2002 (TBC); and (12) Final Thoughts: The Cultivation of Promise (D. J. Leon).