By Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove

In political campaigns, would-be leaders have their stump speeches. These are the inspirational comfort blankets they produce when they are wheeled out in front of yet another audience. Business leaders have much the same thing. CEOs have neat five-minute spiels they produce on demand for employees, investors, the media and analysts.

Look, for example, at the press cuttings of well-known CEOs. You can guarantee that the same stories, strategies and statistics are religiously recounted. Repetition is safe territory.

But no leader can pay lip service to repetition. Indeed, the biggest sin . . .