A small group of experienced business leaders and academics have teamed up to create an innovative and potentially disruptive approach to developing leadership in the 21st century. The result is a unique, people-centric, and scientifically researched theory of leadership linked to an accurate data-based assessment and diagnostic product. This is the result of several years of study and development as well as many years of curiosity and experience. This is a new approach to leadership development.

The authors use a combination of leadership experience, research, and science to move away from unprovable theory and subjective judgment to deliver a definable product with unlimited application. For individual leaders looking to maximise personal development and results or for organisations wanting to analyse leadership and its effects across an entire structure or business, this book will redefine understanding and development.

The work has proved that team members’ perceptions of a leader and leadership behaviours will define their motivation, willingness, loyalty, output, and mental health far more than the actual leadership behaviours themselves. The authors’ application of Emergent Team Leadership Theory, why and to what degree team members attribute leadership to their leaders, directors, or managers, leads to accurate assessments of how leaders and leadership are viewed in teams, businesses, and organisations. Importantly, the work is so accurate that individual leaders can define precisely where to focus their personal development to get the most from themselves and their teams. Even for leaders and managers of the same grade in the same role, personal leadership development and training will be different.

This work has developed the Leadership Pathway Audit™ that measures the effectiveness of leadership for any leader or any team and will, over time, chart how leadership changes as any factor of the leader, the team, or the situation changes. Each leader, director, or manager gets a unique representation of the perception of their leadership at any time and a detailed report on the data and perceptions behind this representation. There are limitless options for following this with bespoke analysis of an individual’s leadership and for personal development programs tailored to their profile and organisation. Equally, reviewing the entirety of a business or organisation’s leadership profiles gives an incredibly accurate view of leadership across an entire company organisation, or sector.