Democracy and Leadership

A lot of people think that DEMOCRACY is about politics and governance while LEADERSHIP is about politics and business. And they are right. However, there is more to Democracy and Leadership than politics, governance and business. Democracy and Leadership are also about life in general. In certain parts of the West Coast of Africa, for example, the local fishermen and fishmongers take a collaborative "democratic leadership" approach to manage each day's catch. Depending on the size of a day's haul and situation, the head of the fishing team or the owner of the canoe encourages a participative (democratic) leadership role to decide how the catch should be apportioned. The fishmongers (front cover), who are mostly women and very conversant with the fish market dynamics, negotiate for a portion that they would scale at a location with proximity to either the market or fish-smoking facilities. The fishmongers adapt various but "everyday" leadership characteristics to decide on the portion that should be sold fresh at the beach or at the market, and the percentage that should be smoked or dried to preserve the fish to enable extended retailing period. The latter is strategic to avoid fermentation or spoilage of the fish particularly in the situation where both fishermen and fishmongers lack access to a cold storage. The important vehicle that enables this collaboration to thrive is embedded in human dignity, human rights, respect for others and effective communication. During their work with Democracy and Leadership over some time, it has gradually dawned on the authors that the values and attitudes that underpin real democracy and good leadership also are very much present in decent everyday human life. Summed up in one concept the common ground is human dignity. The aim of this book is therefore to clarify how human dignity may be the guiding star in our lives. Hopefully that clarification will inspire the reader to lead an active, participative life both privately and publicly and see Democracy and Leadership as efficient vehicles to realize the good life on individual as well as community level.