Traditional management approaches which emphasize controlling and directing staff are no longer appropriate for the complex problems, rapid changes and skilled workforce in health care settings today. Nurse managers are realizing that they must lead, motivate, inspire and empower thier staff to perform up to their potential. One means of accomplishing these goals currently gaining popularity in management circles is transformational leadership. Ann Marriner-Tomey uses the keynotes of transformational leadership: attention through vision, meaning through communication, trust through positioning, deployment of self and empowerment as the organizational framework for the book. The twelve chapters explore these central concepts.