This chapter frames the book as a whole by establishing the political and professional manifesto for the volume. It establishes the context for the book as one of contemporary policy and practice demands that place heavy expectations on leaders in early childhood education to work in ways that improve the quality of early childhood education programs. These demands are problematized through the think tank approach to the book, explained in this chapter, which seeks to remain open to multiple and multidisciplinary approaches to the scientific study of learning to lead. We argue this openness depends on avoidance of binaries, seeking multiple forms of professionalism, avoiding easy reference to crises, contestation of change, and an acknowledgment of the specialized forms of knowledge necessary for early childhood education practice. The chapter outlines the structure of the book around the pairs of theory–case study exemplars in the chapters that follow.