Entire libraries are replete with lengthy tomes that attempt to define the essence and significance of political leadership through the ages; whether it is innate or earned, the power it can wield for better or worse, and the varying role that it plays in diversely governed societies across the globe.
But as we approach the end of this second decade of our third Christian millennium here in the United Kingdom, many businesses and citizens, together with their elected representatives, are once more intensely debating the importance of political leadership and the potentially negative impact its absence can create.
Did former Prime Minister David Cameron show strong political leadership by offering the British people the chance to vote on a non-binding referendum over continued European Union membership? Or was it - as some argue - a cynical ploy to appease the increasingly vocal Euroskeptic element of the Conservative Party?