Conclusion

Different leaders get results in different ways, yet increasingly it is being recognised that the most effective leaders manage to combine a clear vision with a genuine capacity to care, because caring leadership recognises our mutual interdependence and vulnerability. In their Care manifesto (2020), the authors note how tragic it was that it took a pandemic to remind us just how crucial care is to the proper functioning of society. They suggest we all have a leadership role to play because of our interdependence with each other and the planet. Leaders such as Martin Luther King and Greta Thunberg reflect this. As do numerous examples which spring up in response to events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis: from volunteers collecting and delivering parcels with food and essentials, to libraries and churches opening their doors as ‘warm banks’ and internet cafes.

Developing your understanding of a caring approach to leadership is beneficial regardless of whether or not you currently hold leadership ambitions. Because being a leader is not simply about being put in a formal position of power over others. It can emerge organically simply through caring passionately enough about something which you feel can improve the life experiences of others. And everyone has some capacity to do that.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K318 Leading, managing, caring [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .