This paper discusses the integration of four research projects that focus on educational leadership in El Paso, Texas. Each study raised the following critical issue: It is widely recognized that the quality of school leadership correlates with the quality of a particular campus's educational activities. However, traditional methods of leadership development tend to focus on formal input from recognized "experts," which tends to silence other voices interested in how principals should perform their jobs. To investigate this issue, focus groups and one-on-one semistructured interviews were employed. Three focus groups were conducted for parents, three for middle- and high-school students, and three for teachers. All participants were residents or employees in one of the large urban school districts in El Paso. One-on-one, semistructured interviews were also conducted with six school-board members, two from each of three large urban school districts in the area. Results unveiled common themes regarding the desired attributes for effective principals. In general, school-board members valued the technical skills emphasized in principal-preparation programs, but parents, teachers, and students emphasized relationships over managerial skills, citing effective communication techniques as the avenue principals should use to strengthen bonds among stakeholders. Contains 27 references. (RJM)