Leadership is foundational to the work of implementation.  Volumes have been written about effective leadership, and there is strong agreement about the importance of knowledgeable and engaged leadership.  Within the Active Implementation Frameworks, we are focused on the role rather than the authority position of a leader. We emphasize technical and adaptive leadership strategies because there are data to indicate that the ability to engage in such leadership impacts student achievement.  This does not mean that many other aspects of leadership are not important. It is critical that leadership development efforts focus on building the leadership of staff and empowering implementation teams to make decisions.