This thought-provoking book, Great Leaders, is aimed at stimulating your curiosity and guiding you through the various facets of leadership. Leadership expert and author John Adair explores the topic through its many forms, posing the question: Who are the great leaders in history and what have they got to teach us today about the nature and practice of leadership? Leadership is a characteristic many think can't be taught; but to what degree can true leadership skills be identified and developed? Adair reviews the key great leaders in history to identify the main lessons that should be learnt from them. What emerges is a concept of leadership that is highly relevant to the needs of the world today. Great Leaders is a book rich in examples and case studies, and wide-ranging in scope. With a thematic structure, Adair illustrates the different facets of leadership including: • Knowledge • Communication • Decision-making • Inspiring while informing • Making progress in a changing world • Charisma • Women as leaders • Leaders for tomorrow The very different styles of leadership of Lincoln, de Gaulle, Hitler, Socrates, Lao Tzu, Washington, Thatcher, Gandhi and many more are examined, focusing on the cardinal qualities of inspiring, communicating and decision making but also of humour, intuition and imagination. Key qualities that so often appear as abstract ideals – motivation, communication, decision-making, inspiration – here almost literally come to life.