But I am more interested in unpicking what it takes to earn permission from those who are lead. Is it who the leader is or what he or she does? Or are the two are intertwined? Is it because they can see farther than others and express what they see in an inspiring way? Is it because they take care of the people they lead and help them to achieve great things? Does the answer differ in different cultures? Is it simply because they are older that they have earned the right to lead those that are younger?

I would be interested to see how people would complete the statement below:

“__________ earned permission to lead me because…”

It can be anyone – your boss, a coach, a chair, a friend, a colleague, a family member. Very curious to hear about how and why people have earned permission to lead you.

I pose this question because, when I sign off letters and emails to people I care about, I do so with a ‘love Julia’. I always have. People I care about are people I know well and some that I know a little and respect a lot.

Why do I do it? Maybe because I haven’t ever grown up and I still want to be different. Maybe because I really do love people, generally. Maybe because I always have and just because I am getting old – or more successful – why would I stop? In fact maybe, as I get older and more successful, I shouldn’t stop.

Maybe I just don’t feel good about the alternatives…yours, yours sincerely, warm wishes, all that formal pleasantry.

I have never written ‘love Julia’ to anyone I don’t have a good relationship with, and I have occasionally demoted people to a simple ‘Julia’ sign off. Indeed if you get ’yours Julia’ that’s pretty bad.

Nor have I ever held back on ‘love Julia’ because the person I wrote to was too swanky, or not swanky at all. Everyone I care about gets the same. Westerners and Easterners, Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists, men and women.

Various people tell me to grow up. They might as well say “stop being you”.

I know some people just smile and say “Will she ever change?” Some are horrid about it, somehow implying I shouldn’t love so many people. Some say I should become more culturally sensitive and that it can offend. I have never had that sense. Some people have certainly been surprised, but never offended.

I do think leaders should grow up in lots of ways, but the trick is to remain yourself as you grow.

Shall we focus on what these three men have to say on policy? Or the issues? Or will we scrutinise their competency? Or the strength of their ambition?

To me – above all – the focus should be on leadership. Who do we think will be the best leader with the best team?

The UK is in quite a mess. No secret there. We can get out of its mess, but the danger is that we will slide and all the difference will rest on the brave decisions and the national mood one of these three people will create.

We have huge assets for such a small country – in land mass and population – compared to existing and emerging world powers. But we will have to play a clever game to succeed…and to continue to prosper.

So what will I be looking for as I switch on the telly tonight? The leader with some policies I’m sure to disagree with. The one to lift a country from the recession blues and give it confidence. The leader who names the beast, who doesn’t pretend that there is no mess to speak of and confronts the hard questions. The one who can attract and keep talent around him and ensure they perform at their best. The one who speaks in a way that makes you listen.

The objective seems to be how to appear to be authentic. The view is that we should accept that authentic is an illusion, but an important illusion which needs to be created. And this in the context that we are addressing an audience, whether they are customers, stakeholders or citizens, that has largely lost the ability to discern what is authentic anyway. Given that we are often presented with leaders who claim that one identity after the next is the really authentic one, it’s not surprising that we begin to lose our ability to discern the real one.

As one new authentic version appears, no-one seems to spot that its very presence puts in doubt the previous authentic version (and indeed this one too). When the leader cries, is he or she authentic? Is authenticity only revealed in the toughest of times, when a leader gets into a fight, a real scrap?

Then the other word that slips in near to authentic is “moments”, and that’s the finale. Is authenticity revealed in moments, or is it in fact unveiled over time and over a period that the moments have little impact on? Except very occasionally to dramatically destroy it in one stroke!