Conclusion

The conclusion briefly rounds off the book, summarizing the different models and re-emphasizing the need to take a variegated approach to leadership. Despite this approach, there are some themes that run through many of the models: the importance of ethics and the need for expertise. Plato was emphatic about this need, but also very honest about the problem to which it gives rise: how can a leader simultaneously immerse themselves in the technicalities required for decision-making, and be able to relate to their non-expert followers? The conclusion also stresses that the focus of the book is first and foremost about leadership, rather than a celebration of Plato’s achievements: the priority has been to present a rich and variegated approach to leadership, in order to stimulate readers to draw on their own experience and find further applications of the study.