Leadership is one of those topics about which most people have an opinion – it is a hugely contested subject. Maybe this is because they have worked for someone they viewed as an inspiring leader, or perhaps they grumble about the lack of good leadership where they work. In the workplace, in politics, in the worlds of celebrity and sport, in local communities, in social groups and in families, leadership plays a part and most of us are affected by it in some way.

‘There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept’ (Bass, 1990: 11).