Leadership development in health care: a word of caution

Leadership development is seen as central to the modernisation agenda of the NHS. It has been identified in key policy documents and a range of leadership development programmes have been developed to meet this need. This paper reviews the evidence concerning leadership development in nursing. The conclusion reached is that leadership is only one element in the changes that need to occur in health care. Too much emphasis on leadership without an equal concern for transforming the organisations nurses and other health personnel work in may result in leadership being added to the list of transient management “fads” which have characterised health care in recent years.