Leadership is a complex function. Many have confused management and leadership, though the two are often intertwined and expected from one person. Leadership has been defined by many experts in a variety of publications; at The Tai Initiative we subscribe to the view that leadership is ultimately about moving people along a path to achieving their purpose(s). The best leaders always have a certain core set of leadership characteristics and behaviors they have mastered to accomplish this difficult task. Leaders with skill but without ethical character will lead people successfully down a path to destruction. Leaders with ethical character but without skill will find themselves manipulated, lost, and broken; their people lost on the path that earlier looked so clear.
领导力是一个复杂的能力. 很多人把管理和领导混淆在一起，但是这两者恰恰又是相互交织并且被预期在一个人的身上发生. 领导能力已经被许多专家在各种出版物中定义，可是The Tai Initiative 认为，领导能力是能引导民众走正确道路而最终实现自己的目的能力. 优秀的领导者总是会有一套相对核心而且具有性格特色的方法来完成这项艰巨的任务. 有技能但没有道德品格的领导只会引导人们成功地走向毁灭. 而没有技能但有道德品格的领导者会被他人操纵，从而丢失自我，最终导致失败. 而他们失败的原因在早期就已经很清晰了.
The Tai Initiative believes that in both America and in China there is a general leadership deficit; more skilled leaders of solid character are needed to ensure our people move along the path to achieving a stable and peaceful 21st century and beyond. Each nation’s citizens have agreed again and again in a variety of ways that such a need is clear and urgent. A majority of American and Chinese policymakers, business and educational leaders, as well as concerned citizens want essentially the same thing: a stable and prosperous future for ourselves and our allies. The challenge lies in finding and taking the path that achieves that outcome most successfully for all.
The Tai Initiative 认为美国和中国之间的大体领导方法是有空缺的. 他们之间非常需要更多有经验和能力的人，特别是有道德性格的领导者来确保我们两国的人民沿着实现稳定与和平的21世纪及更高的道路上走. 两国人民多次通过各种不同的方式明确地表达这种需要是紧迫的. 大部分的美国和中国的政策制定者，商业和教育的领导者，以及关心时局的公民都在本质上期望一个相同的目标：一个对于自己和盟友稳定和繁荣的未来. 这个目标所面临的挑战就在于寻找和实现这一结果的最成功的路径.
Such a challenge has so far been too great for national leaders alone to discover and map out. The Tai Initiative was created to increase the opportunity for the sub-national level of leadership to participate in the process and contribute meaningful solutions. We believe the United States and China have a unique opportunity in front of them that has not been seen in world history for several centuries. For the sake of the challenge set before us, we aim to achieve this and more by setting our sights on developing leaders of character and capability, in both the United States and China.
这样的一个挑战迄今为止是只依靠两国的国家领导人来实现不了的. The Tai Initiative 是为增加民间级别的参与机会并提供有意义的解决方案而创造的. 我们相信美国和中国面前有一个几个世纪都没被发现的独特机会. 为了战胜摆在我们面前的挑战，我们的目标是要实现扩展美国和中国两国领导者的性格和能力.
