AustLit

'All leadership is contingent. What works in one institutional setting may not work in another. Within a single institution, what works at one time nay be a disaster at another. In times of crisis the demands on national leaders will be very different from those when the principal task is the manipulation of routines, the continuing problems of daily governing. Consequently, there can be no universal formula for successful leadership. We need to determine in each case the broad circumstances in which the leaders must work, the institutional framework that they must manage, the way they gained and hold their positions and the particular events that make demands on their skills. Even then it would be a brave observer who would say with any certainty what the leaders should do. They must always balance demands, pressures, ideology and ambition, nearly always within environments of uncertain facts and unpredictable outcomes. It is easy to develop declaratory leadership axioms: be bold, have a plan, lead from the front. The issue for each case is always how, when, why and to what extent.' (Editorial)