ABSTRACT
This chapter will review the meaning of leadership and being a leader. It will look at the theory, supposition and experience of leaders and leadership approaches. There is review of the different types of leadership, traits and characteristics that influence the way leaders, and we as leaders may behave. There is review of the traditional approaches seen through the past decades within healthcare, using the National Health Service (NHS) as an exemplar, and how they change over time as a result of policies and/or behaviours of individuals. This chapter also looks at some newer approaches that we see in the literature and practice over the last few decades.
