ABSTRACT
At a conference on "The Future of Leadership", bringing together a combination of leading-edge researchers and pioneering practitioners, a breakout session is taking place. Arguably an imaginative organisational design, progressive personnel policies and practices and self-managed teamwork dispense with the need for leadership. If the longer-term organisational consequences of charismatic leadership were beginning to make people nervous, then another leadership solution emerged in the 1990s: emotional intelligence. The view was that leadership assessment and development had focused largely on intellectual skills and neglected a key theme: the ability to manage the emotional stuff. Credibility is the first hurdle of leadership. Credibility provides authority, legitimacy and a reassurance that the individual can operate effectively within leadership roles. The capability component of leadership represents the range of skills and talents that enable individuals to take on the problems and challenges facing the organisation.
