ABSTRACT
Reflecting on the many styles and paths of leadership, we consider the ongoing problem of leadership definition, recognising the need to have a ‘better understanding of leadership’. In moving towards that, we differentiate between leadership’ and ‘management’ on the one hand, and ‘administration’ on the other. The most succinct definition is that ‘managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing’ (Bennis and Nanus, 1985). We discuss this distinction in relation to the case study interviewees, and then move on to consider dissatisfactions with ‘new managerialism’, tensions between performativity, trust and the passion to educate, and the role of academic, learning and pedagogic leadership in relation to models of professional practice and leader-member networks.
