It argues that leadership is the product of individuals’ ‘we-ness’ rather than of their ‘I-ness’. This perspective forces us to see leadership, motivation and influence not as processes that revolve around individuals acting and thinking in isolation, but as group processes in which leaders and followers are joined together — and perceive themselves to be joined together — in shared endeavour. But in order for this to succeed, leaders need to represent and champion the group and they also need to create and embed a sense of shared identity.

This talk presents compelling evidence of these processes in action and spells out all- important implications for practice that centre on evidence-based tools and interventions that have successfully translated the theory of identity leadership into practice.