What does it mean to lead? It’s a question all executives – Wall Street managing directors, retail store managers, even business school deans – must answer.

To a degree, leadership is a quality that is demonstrated or learned through experience – not taught. And that’s part of the reason we bring so many leaders into our campus. Thanks to our location in New York City, our faculty and students have myriad opportunities to interact with a wide range of people who have led large organizations. Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, ex-Allied Signal CEO-turned best-selling author Larry Bossidy, and Steve Florio, the former head of Condé Nast Publications, all of whom are featured in this issue of Sternbusiness, are just a few of the many dynamic leaders who visited with us in Washington Square last fall.

Institutions can lead, too. Management departments lie at the core of every business school. At Stern, our robust management department is distinguished by its particular focus on the behavioral sciences. In two of the articles in this issue, members of our faculty delve into concepts drawn from psychology and sociology to highlight more effective ways of managing and leading companies.

More broadly, business schools lead by carrying out their core mission: sponsoring and conducting innovative research, creating knowledge, and disseminating knowledge to wide audiences. Moreso than those in many other disciplines, scholars of economics, finance, information systems, marketing communications, and management expect their research to do work in the world. Stern faculty lead by pushing knowledge beyond the confines of our buildings. They offer expert opinion, consult to businesses, testify before Congress, appear in the media, and publish far and wide – all as part of an overarching effort to place the insights they’ve gleaned into the hands of others.

Part of our mission involves helping to develop the next generation of business leaders – our students. Ultimately, of course, business leaders are forged in the workplace. But an excellent business education that inculcates a grasp of the fundamentals, an appreciation of the complexities and challenges presented by the global workplace, and a capacity for critical thinking is the sine qua non for any leader.

These efforts lie at the core of what we do at Stern. And I think you’ll find that they are embodied in this issue of Sternbusiness.

Thomas F. Cooley
Dean