What we mean when we talk about leadership

Leadership is a term frequently used in business books, management theory and the media but how many of us have stopped to think what we mean when we use the word? Do we all understand it in the same way – is it possible to create a definition we all agree on? In What we mean when we talk about leadership Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer present a vision of leadership illuminated by their conversations with entrepreneurs, management thinkers, CEOs of global businesses and leading sports stars. Interviewees including Jim Collins, C.K. Prahalad, Vittorio Colao and Dame Ellen MacArthur help build a picture of what it means to lead. Through these conversations we begin to see that leadership does not have to involve a heroic striving for greatness. The best leaders don’t shout about it, in fact many of the greatest leaders turn out to be humble, ordinary people with extraordinary purposefulness. Above all leadership is an individual journey of exploration, so no two leaders are identical and there is no blueprint. Instead What we mean when we talk about leadership provides accessible, pithy inspiration for all those who practise and experience leadership – and, one way or another, this applies to nearly all of us.