"Our fatal flaw may be the idea that an individual or institution can single-handedly penetrate new frontiers of possibility." - Nora Bateson Image via Team Human

"I think our notions of leadership are toxic to the ecology of communication and collaboration in a social system. How can there be real communication when there is deference to a leader? This imbalance creates a hold-back of contribution and interaction. Look now at the fascination with celebrity that has infected the globe. The imbalance in the possibility for communication when one individual is placed above others in this way effectively destroys the possibility of true cooperation and mutual learning.

"Mutual learning is only possible when all participants are willing to be wrong… willing to learn, to explore new ideas, to go off the map, out of the known, and together grope in the shadowy corners of new ideas, new plans, new territories. That cannot happen if one person is the know-it-all. Even if that person has perfect “leadership skills”—they still disrupt the ecology with individualism. “Leadership” often creates competition, ambition, greed and, on the flip side, fosters deference, hopelessness, apathy, and blame." 

ARTICLE: It’s Time to Fix Our Toxic Notion of What Makes a Good Leader