This book offers an open invitation to all professionals and aspiring professionals in information management to reflect on and engage with the development of their leadership role and contribution. Our underlying assumption is that leadership is beneficial at all levels of an organization, and has both internal and external facets. Leadership is relevant for a wide range of roles and can take a number of different guises. Leadership development involves developing capacity to provide leadership in a range of different contexts. It includes developing the leader's own capacity, as well as acting as a catalyst, facilitator and coach to others in the development of their leadership potential.

Leadership capacity is required at all levels of the information profession. Within the information profession there are concerns about the availability and development of top leaders who may provide leadership to significant library and information services, and commercial concerns in the information industry, and in addition shape their community's vision in relation to the importance of a professional and well-informed approach to information and knowledge policy and strategy. There is also concern about leadership capacity within information services. Professional staff, without necessarily having a formal management role, may be called on to lead an interdisciplinary team in aspects of its development of digital citizenship or e-learning, or they may have a supervisory role in relation to tasks or a small group of individuals. All of these roles require leadership, and demand that individuals develop their leadership capacity.

Just in case you are thinking that leadership is not for you, we urge you to linger a little longer. Not all leaders recognize that they aspire to be leaders. Some leaders are driven by more specific agendas. They may want to be a good and successful manager. They may have a drive to make a difference. Alternatively, they may enjoy change and learning. These orientations may inadvertently place them in leadership roles; they may be surprised to find that others are following them, but when this happens in order to take forward their agenda they have to be prepared to accept the responsibility for their followers and take up the mantle of leadership. Others aspire to leadership because they welcome the opportunity to develop and inspire other people or because they welcome the status, control and power that they perceive to be associated with leadership.