Overview

There is a developing consensus that public health organisations should engage in building leadership capacity. To develop effective public health leadership therefore requires these organisations to actively engage in developing more leaders at every level. This article aims to stimulate debate on the kind of public health leadership needed today to reduce inequalities and improve health and well-being. Definitions and a new model of public health leadership are discussed, and its meaning is further explored via the results of interviews with European public health leaders. Some new developments in transformational public health leadership training and capacity building initiatives are highlighted.