Clinical nurse leaders are crucial to the success of patient care initiatives: good leaders help produce good care, and poor leaders produce poor care; likewise for academic,political and executive fields of nursing. With appropriate identification, support and development of future nurse leaders, an acknowledgement of the shifting paradigm of leadership theory and the context in which future nurse leaders are destined to grow, the ultimate goal of the nursing profession — excellence in person-centred care — can be achieved. Along with the ability to identify and nurture nurses to leadership, so it is essential to avoid fostering those who either do not possess the adequate qualities or display the loud and negative traits which have been shown to be detrimental to the nursing team and work-place. It is essential to the future success of the nursing profession that informal, ‘‘negative leaders’’ be discouraged and positive leaders, possessing the evidence-based qualities of leadership be identified and nurtured to lead the profession.