The power of place in public leadership research and development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to foreground place as a critical and central concern for public leadership research, development and practice. Design/methodology/approach This invited essay draws on the author's own research and development work engaging in collaborative place-based interventions with academics, policy makers and practitioners. Findings Place is one of six heuristic lenses in a Leadership Hexad that has been developed to interrogate and better understand leadership in a multi-dimensional manner. Place can provide an important theoretical and practical fulcrum for bridging both collaborative governance and collective leadership and public and political leadership as well as facilitating cross-sectoral leadership. Originality/value This essay draws on experience undertaking academic research and conducting leadership development that draws from and feeds into policy and practice. It utilises research from geography, leadership studies, public management, public policy and political science to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between place and public leadership and how this can be harnessed to improve economic and social impact.