“…Performance management systems, employee recruitment, development and retention strategies, etc, have often been replicated from the private sector in the transition process (Kirkpatrick et al , 2005; Pollitt, 2000; Sprigings, 2002; Walker, 2001). The social housing sector today faces a number of challenges (Pawson and Mullins, 2010; Preece and Ward, 2012; Ward and Preece, 2010a, 2010c), and in this context it seems to us to be important to explore the evolving nature of leadership and leadership development in the sector (Ward and Preece, 2010b; Ward et al , 2010d), and in particular the (changing) role and development of non‐executive board members, who, at least in principle, have been accorded a more central place in SH organisation governance, given the perceived need for a broader range of expertise and representation in these uncertain times.…”