ABSTRACT
Leadership is increasingly defined within theory and policy as an activity which is central to all staff at all levels, and one which is increasingly allied to the modernisation and transformation of health and social care services. For Max Landsberg, the essence of leadership is the ability to create vision, inspiration and momentum in a group of people. Enacting leadership with vision is about motivating and influencing people, and shaping and achieving outcomes. There is an array of leadership theories which can help to understand that process. According to Adair’s model, the leader’s role is to be aware of, and to manage, the tensions between the various needs as a result of the frequent conflicts between them. Transformational leadership was seen as creating a sense of justice, loyalty and trust. Bernard Bass developed the notion of transactional leadership between the 1960s and 1980s, based on the idea of a contract process between the leader and the group.
