going beyond the hero in leadership development: the place of healthcare context, complexity and relationships; comment on “leadership and leadership development in healthcare settings – a simplistic solution to complex problems?”

there remains a conviction that the torrent of publications and the financial outlay on leadership development will create managers with the skills and characters of perfect leaders, capable of guiding healthcare organisations through the challenges and crises of the 21st century. the focus of much attention continues to be the search for the (illusory) core set of heroic qualities, abilities or competencies that will enable the development of leaders to achieve levels of supreme leadership and organisational performance. this brief commentary adds support to mcdonald’s (1) call for recognition of the complexity of the undertaking.