Democratic Leadership

The topic is whether democratic leadership is always preferable.

There are a lot of angles you can take, but one big job is

to "unpack" the term 'democratic': what does it really mean? What

does it imply?

Here are some angles:

1. All organizations need good two-way communication to succeed. It

is difficult to envision how can this be achieved in the absence of a

democratic culture.

2. Many organizations require secrecy in order to function properly.

But secrecy seems to be in conflict with democracy, because it limits

information to some decision-makers.

3. All organizations require obedience, yet, the obligation to obey

doesn't seem to fit well in a democratic context. (Or does it?)

4. Democracy requires compromise, yet sometimes an organization

needs "uncompromising leadership" in order to thrive. (Or not?)

5. Organizations thrive on expert decision-making, yet democracy does

not seem to be compatible with this, since everyone is involved in

the decision-making. In other words, often democratic leadership

leads to mediocrity.

Help me think of more angles.