John Eric[1] Adair (born 18 May 1934) is a British academic who is a leadership theorist and author of more than forty books (translated into eighteen languages) on business, military and other leadership.
[2] Adair was born in Luton and educated at St Paul's School before undertaking his national service as a second lieutenant in the Scots Guards from 1953 to 1955.
Unusually, he served as adjutant of a Bedouin regiment in the Arab Legion[3] and was briefly in command of the garrison of Jerusalem in the front line.
[2] He also studied at Hull Nautical College (where he qualified as an Arctic trawler deckhand in 1955) and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959.
[4] In 2009 he was appointed chair of leadership studies, United Nations System Staff College in Turin.