Most of us think of Churchill as the uniquely-gifted warrior-leader who led the nation to victory in the Second World War. He is the role-model for courageous leadership, pugnacious negotiation and brilliant communication. He is the archetypal big picture strategist.

Winston Churchill was all these things, and more. However, in his new book Mirrors of Greatness historian David Reynolds, our leading expert on the two world wars and the Cold War, seeks to paint a more personal, nuanced portrait of Churchill in relation to other leaders by showing how he mirrored them, and they him. Explaining how Churchill was shaped, David discusses the key roles played by wartime allies Stalin and Roosevelt, political rivals Chamberlain and Attlee, enemies Hitler, Mussolini and Gandhi, and his influential leader-wife Clementine.

Leadership-lessons from a great leader in his context.

In the UK, Ireland and parts of the Commonwealth, a Medical Royal College is a professional body responsible for setting standards in a particular medical speciality. Twenty-four Royal Colleges and Faculties shape our healthcare by setting standards for the way doctors are trained and monitored. 

One of the Medical Royal Colleges is the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Today, the College enables 15,000 doctors in 97 countries to develop the skills, knowledge and leadership to improve patient care. The CEO is Dr. Steve Graham (whose doctorate is in chemistry, not medicine.) Steve draws on 25 years of working at board level in the private and public sectors to explain how to lead effectively when as CEO you answer to a board of medical experts. The priorities, Steve argues, are: to think of yourself as the head of the civil service working with the prime minister; being completely clear about who is accountable for what; and communication, communication, communication.

John Wroe is the founder and CEO of Street Child United, the global charity that uses the power of sport and the arts to challenge the negative perceptions and treatment of millions of street children everywhere.

John was working in South Africa in 2008 and had the idea which changed his life and, more importantly, the lives of homeless children living on the streets around the world. Just two years later the first Street Child World Cup was staged alongside the FIFA World Cup – and the rest is history. With irrepressible enthusiasm, passion for big ideas, the knack of engaging everyone from governments to sports stars, and huge sense of fun, John leaps over obstacles with glee. The traffic just keeps on parting for him.