‘real-world’ leadership problems facing the individual or team,

The delivery of leadership development programs could be improved in these ways:

1.use approaches that address practical ‘real-world’ leadership problems facing the individual or team, rather than teaching abstract leadership theory and leaving the learners to apply it when they return to the workplace on their own

2.follow the evidence from the training and development literature that suggests that short three- to four-day workshops delivered away from the workplace without ongoing learning and support are less effective than programs delivered in situ and spread over longer periods of time

3.incorporate ongoing mentoring, coaching, learning modules, service improvement projects and personalised development plans.

Incorporate the findings of recent re-evaluations of the transformational leadership style that shift the focus from a ‘heroic’ style (centred around an extraordinary person with charisma leading from the front) to an engaging and distributed style of leadership that emphasises:

– shared and collaborative responsibility for outcomes

– enabling the followers- acting with integrity

– being accessible

– displaying humility- demonstrating a deep concern for others and for outcomes for consumers and communities