Leadership development is needed in vocational education; the field lacks an adequate number of leaders and is making almost no systematic effort to develop them. In order for leadership development activities to be undertaken, however, a definition of leadership is needed. An overview of the literature suggests that leadership can be seen as both a process and a property, and the leader's role can be seen to be the accomplishment of four broad tasks: to inspire a shared vision, to foster collaboration and ownership, to exercise power effectively and enable others to act, and to set the right external context for the organization. This conceptualization of leadership also advances the proposition that leadership behaviors result from the interaction of the leader's attributes, the group's attributes, the task at hand, and the general context. Desirable leadership attributes predispose leadership behaviors. However, some leadership attributes can be developed through deliberate educational interventions, especially through professional development. A study by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at Minnesota's 34 technical colleges validated this concept of leadership through a survey of 510 vocational-technical institute faculty (with 282 responses). Results pointed to the need for more studies to promote confidence in these findings. At the same time, the Center must also begin to provide leadership development services to the field of vocational education. (Includes 61 references and 5 appendices detailing survey results.) (KC)