Donna Ladkin : The Leadership Moment

Donna Ladkin : The Leadership Moment

October 6, 2025 · 58 min · Episode 125

About this episode

Dr. Donna Ladkin discusses the complexities of leadership as a lived experience rather than a set of traits.

So often we think of leaders as born rather than made, or at least as having some kind of specialist predisposition such as charisma or perhaps an extraverted, more dominant personality. Dr Donna Ladkin joins Dom, Peter and Sue to explore the idea that maybe leadership is much more complex and may be better understood as a lived experience rather than a checklist of traits or behaviours. While recognising that individuals do matter, this conversation explores the idea of ‘a leadership moment’ that happens when context, purpose, followers and leaders align. How a leader is perceived, but also how the context and meaning of any given moment is understood all contribute to linking these four factors that come together in the moment. This thoughtful conversation about the making of leaders is of critical importance in current global contexts, but also in our own where understanding the nature and importance of leadership is vital for healthy and thriving communities. Dr Donna Ladkin is the Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Graduate School of Management, Plymouth University, and the author of many books including “Rethinking Leadership: A new look at old…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dom, Peter, Sue

Guest: Donna Ladkin

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Graduate School of Management, Plymouth University

Books & works: Rethinking Leadership: A new look at old leadership questions

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