The Book

And what about governance from below? My first thought is, “That’s a lot of whoo woo.” Although, I remember that Gandhi said, “… true democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village.” As someone who spent his career in international studies and cooperation, I’m intrigued by the intuition that this book might be about something quite new.

My intuition is right. The book offers new insights about ways to build mutual understanding and accomplishment as well as respect for our planet. We are used to thinking that wisdom and experience, key qualities of good leaders, are the proud possessions of adults who spend their lives accumulating them. But what if that’s not so? Experience can result in narrowed perceptions, and what adults think is wisdom can cause them to fail to observe the world accurately with ever new eyes and feelings.

The book’s insights are exciting, ranging from practical advice on how to do everyday tasks together to new perspectives on complex matters of environment and global, sometimes violent, clashes between cultures. Let’s figure out children performing duties or in a conference, or within family with their parents and other siblings? what will it be? It’s a book for everyone from family and children to thoughtful leaders of business and government. It became clear to me as I read through the book that governance is everywhere.

The book’s journey begins with some amazing accomplishments and talents children have shown throughout history. Children can have great charisma and can outperform adults in surprising ways. The second chapter helped me get a clearer understanding of the meaning “governance from below.” The examples of successful experiments with it convinced me that it’s a fundamentally new concept and why leadership can include children and even the least people in the society. Leadership and governance is about getting a clear destination and a clear path to reach it in a way that helps people unlock their best for the common good. Those who are in leadership positions can do better when they integrate other persons’ viewpoints.

Then the book shifts back to stories about children and the roles they usually play in society. I’m impressed to see that the book recognizes institutions that have been working to develop children’s innate skills. It shares delightful examples of innovative programs around the world. Despite the fragility of children, the book shows the leadership capacity children have and how these capacities can be inspiring.

Chapter 5 explores the critical questions about the capacity of children to really lead. It reviews the main leadership modes in which children can be engaged. The many leadership modes remind me how complex leadership can be. For example, it clearly shows that children often lead through soft power to get what they need. But their leadership mode often seems to be ‘One Way leadership,’ the same mode many adults are inclined to use as well. Children typically lead in a way that focuses only on their interests – a crying baby, for example. Adults typically also lead other adults and children from a limited-framework, unconsciously ignoring others’ points of view, for example, by considering others as less competent. Governance from below encourages more inclusion so that every voice is heard even the least ones, beginning from the smallest neighborhood.

The book demonstrates that if adult leaders would enlarge their leadership perspective, and if children would put forward their innate skills of leadership, a new way of leading would emerge: ‘engaging all the people around.’ This practice of engaging everyone according to their capacity is a skill that both children and adults can learn. Anyone who values this practical method of mutual leadership can make it happen – adult or child. This book invites each reader to be a visionary leader who initiates the personal learning process. And the book finally introduces the concept of mutual leadership. I find it very interesting that even though there is a lot of literature about leadership, the concept of mutual leadership is seldom defined or discussed! Mutual leadership appears to be an important way for children and adults to interact; it is also a way anyone can interact with others, regardless of formal position, age, gender, culture, or faith. It is also a key idea to improve the practicality and feasibility of governance from below.

Something really new: but how can it really happen in practice? Chapter 6 explores the nuances of mutual leadership and shows that it works, giving examples of successful leaders in different fields who have used it successfully. It also looks across several cultures in many settings and practices that have actually experienced mutual leadership. In Chapter 7 the book looks at governance from below and mutual leadership where children and the most fragile people are more engaged, as a way of life, to meet common social issues and development challenges that our societies are facing day after day. I’m delighted to see the many ways in which governance from below can help societies heal from past traumas. Following governance from below principles in every neighborhood would give an opportunity to children and adults to lead together for a better future of our planet. The chapter ends by suggesting some steps for making governance from below, including mutual leadership really happen.

The book concludes with the wonderful image of the world as becoming the neighborhood of all human beings and with a vibrant call for each of us to join efforts to make the world the best place to be wherever we are. I personally liked the many pictures and thought-provoking stories that illustrated children’s amazing capacities. More importantly, this book genuinely carries new ideas about governance and leadership that everyone needs to examine. It offers a radically different but doable approach to the question of how to govern our planet and that makes it unique. I’m excited to commend it to you.