ABSTRACT
Following a brief discussion of the difference between leadership and management, a definition of educational leadership is proposed and then applied to delineate the structural organisation used to present the book’s content. Focus is given to leadership as influence, leadership with purpose, leadership in context, and leadership with responsibility. Readers are invited to evaluate their preparedness for a leadership role and create an action plan based on the self-evaluation of their level of skill. An index of theoretical approaches is provided in tabular form linked to the chapter titles which shape this book. A number of tasks are set and the content of the chapter is mapped to the competencies for those completing the English National Professional Qualifications for Leadership. Here the concept of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) is first introduced and applied to describe the challenges faced by leaders today.
