Introduction

The introduction outlines Network Leadership. Unlike conventional top-down leadership, network leadership is more about influencing and enabling than directing. It is leadership understood first and foremost as a social process that creates direction, alignment and commitment without recourse to the traditional mantra of positional authority: “because I say so”. Formal and positional leadership will remain important, but in our increasingly interconnected world leaders will increasingly be asked to lead without positional authority across internal and external organisational boundaries and that, we believe, requires four key practices: two leadership components, convening power and leading beyond authority; bookended by two enabling components, understanding the social system and restless persuasion.