Growing our own: a model for encouraging and nurturing aspiring leaders

DEVELOPMENTS IN western society have led us to question traditional leadership structures. This is particularly so in the context of care as people's health and social care needs change, technology advances and public expectations rise (Department of Health 1999). Bennis (2000), and Kouzes and Posner (2003), identify a style of leadership known as 'transformational leadership', which describes the ability of leaders to influence others by transforming their behaviour without necessarily being in positions of authority. Such leaders can inspire others to follow them by displaying characteristic leadership behaviours. These leadership behaviours are described by Kotter (1990) and are laid out in Table 1.