THE ART OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP: A TOOL FOR SOCIAL AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE

This paper describes the art of participatory leade rship as a response to management challenges in the 21st century. Fostering collective wisdom and collaborat ive action, it is an essential tool for social and organisational development during times of uncertai nty. Within descriptive mode of analysis, this stud y investigates how various methodologies used in part icipatory leadership can help people to work toge ther for change, collaborate in interdisciplinary teams, transcend old paradigms, and create radically more effective, sustainable and creative outcomes in gro ups. Reporting from various examples, the study foc uses on how and why the practice of opening the collecti ve intelligence in organizations and communities ma y serve as a central driving force for unleashing the creativity as well as supporting and coordinating innovative and sustainable solutions. Data on participatory le adership practices is collected using the followin g two types of sources: official documentation provided i n relevant online resources, and the information from the global community of participative leadership practi tioners called Art of Hosting (AoH). The goal of th e study is to reveal how the usage of participatory leaders hip methodology helps finding new solutions for the common good and by thus represents a valuable tool for successful organizational and communal development and change.