Just as the processes, skills and systems of the agricultural era were removed to meet the demands of the industrial era; new ways are today being sought to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the information age. This new age has brought with it a host of changes particularly in the way people are led. Traditional career structures no longer exist and managers are required to take more responsibility for their own development. They are expected to coach and empower rather than to control, and temporary roles and competencies are replacing job descriptions. Flexible contracts are becoming the norm and traditional systems of hierarchy are giving way to flatter structures based on processes and teams (Jones). If leaders are to keep pace with workplace changes of individual accountability, global competitiveness and continuous learning, they need to adopt new leadership approaches and philosophies such as those described above. This new approach is necessary for the trend to globalisation is probably the most important issue affecting Australian leaders in the 21st century.
             Transformational leadership is a popular and current concept in leadership. Transformational leaders act as strong role models, communicate high expectations and inspire followers through a shared vision, stimulate followers to be creative and innovative and listen carefully to followers in a supportive climate. The works of James Sarros, Oleh Butchatsky and Joe Santora recommend a key shift in the approach to leadership, an approach that can be found in the work titled "Australian Leadership" (Sarros 1997). This recommendation is based on an analysis of interviews with senior Australian executives, which resulted in the generation of a model of "breakthrough leadership". Breakthrough leaders rethink the structures, processes, values and ideals of the realities of organisational life with the purpose of improving existing practices, or replacing them with...