Lessons in Leadership: Integrating Courage, Vision, and Innovation for the Future of Sustainable Fisheries

Rethinking Fisheries Leadership: Working with and from within Indigenous Communities

Andrea J. Reid, Lauren E. Eckert, and Dalal E. L. Hanna

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874608.ch64

American author and corporate leadership expert John C. Maxwell defines a leader as “one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” He, like many minds in the realms of business and financial management, ascribes to the school of thought that good leadership is defined by a certain set of qualities, such as one who is confident and decisive, expects the best, has clear goals and strategy, sets an example for others and commands respect, has vision, and is well organized, among many other traits (Maxwell 2007). However, as demonstrated throughout this volume and considered elsewhere (e.g., Denis et al. 2007; Evans et al. 2015), effective leadership in the realm of natural science research and related professions and contexts can look very different from these more conventional notions of what it means to be a good leader. While the above-listed traits may be highly beneficial qualities in corporate or industry settings, here, we present an entirely different set of attributes that we have learned produce better collective outcomes in the context of leading natural science and conservation research, especially when working with and from within Indigenous communities.