Napoleon. Bill Gates. George W. Bush. Osama bin Laden. Leaders and leadership are perennial topics of debate. What is leadership? How does one become a leader? Do we actually need leaders? In this Very Short Introduction, Keith Grint offers provocative answers to these questions, prompting listeners to rethink their assumptions about what leadership is.

Indeed, Grint argues that leadership is a very elusive quality, and that there are few definitive answers to be found, which explains why most books on leadership produce so much heat and so little light. But there are important questions to ask, questions that shed light on why leadership so resists definition.

Grint looks at the way leadership has evolved from its earliest manifestations in ancient societies; highlights the early ideas about leadership found in Plato, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and others; considers how social, economic, and political forces can undermine particular modes of leadership; and discusses the practice of management - its history, future, and influence on all aspects of society.