If someone agrees with you, it’s easy to get that person to follow your lead. The real challenge is bringing together a group of people who disagree—with you and each other—and getting them to work toward a common goal.
That is what we try to teach at Harvard Kennedy School: leadership across difference. We make a point of this not because disagreement is itself a virtue, but because there is no part of public life where every person agrees on every issue. Whether you’re leading the White House or a firehouse, a country or a classroom, a police department or a platoon, a company or a nonprofit, or anything in between, you will be confronted with real and uncomfortable differences. People have different life experiences, distinct perspectives, and often want different things. Strong leaders recognize where people diverge and work to forge a shared vision of the way forward.
This issue of Harvard Kennedy School Magazine features the stories of HKS students, faculty, and alumni who put this ethos into practice every day.
You can read about Professor Julia Minson’s work teaching our students how to disagree better and Professor Brian Mandell’s scholarship on the theory and practice of negotiation. You can explore the history of our Institute of Politics—in words and photographs—and its rich tradition of hosting hard and meaningful conversations with leaders from across the political spectrum. You can learn about our Middle East Dialogues series, which rigorously explores a range of perspectives on conflict in the region. And you can discover the story of a true hero and courageous leader, Joseph Pfeifer HKSEE 2006, MC/MPA 2008, who was the first fire chief to respond to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
In this moment of deep division and increasing uncertainty about the future, I find great inspiration in the stories of HKS community members who are leading with courage, empathy, and compassion. I hope you will, too.
Thank you, as always, for reading and being a part of the Harvard Kennedy School community.
Best,
Jeremy
Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein
Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy
May 2026
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Photograph by Martha Stewart
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