Background Although leadership has been studied extensively, most research has focused on the political and military spheres. More recent work has also examined the role of leadership in sectors such as manufacturing and technology, both areas where it is essential to encourage and nurture innovation. Yet, in the health sector, where innovation is now high on the health policy agenda in many countries, there is a paucity of research on how leadership can foster a culture of innovation.

Research Question What leadership styles have been adopted by those working at senior leadership and management levels (leaders/managers) in organisations created to support the four phases of innovation (searching for opportunities, selecting and implementing, and capturing benefits) within the NHS in England (NHS)?

Methods Mixed methods study including- a) literature review of leadership for innovation; b) fieldwork in seven NHS organisations in the United Kingdom (UK) and a comparator in the United States (USA), with electronic survey (n=155) and interviews (n=34) of purposefully selected participants.

Results A ‘Framework for Leadership of Health Innovation’ for assessing leadership styles in organisations seeking to foster innovation in the NHS was developed, based upon the leadership styles described in the literature and empirically supported leadership theories and concepts shown to be favourable to health innovation and to a lesser extent to those adopted in a successful innovator in the USA health sector. Leaders/managers in the UK health organisations presented a ‘Transformational’ leadership style, both from an ‘Organisational’ and ‘Self’ (personal) perspective.

Conclusion This style of leadership inspires the accomplishment of the mission/vision/values of the organisations’ studied and bodes well for the successful completion of all four phases of the innovation process.