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January 28, 2010 - ISSN# 1545-2646
To often in our society we place leaders on some pedestal thinking that they have all the answers. They will lead everyone out of darkness into new found light.
This week I ask you to challenge this theory by looking at the role of a good or even great follower.
The old saying of too many cooks spoils the soup supports that not everyone can be the leader. It does not mean that followers don’t have critical accountability and responsibility to assist the leader in moving the vision and mission of the business forward.
A leader with out good followers is a zoo keeper most of the time, trying to keep the animals in the zoo from taking over the place. A leader with support from the followers can as a team conquer any and all tasks in front of them.
This does not mean that good followers are drones. Taking orders and completing task. A good or great follower is a individual that utilize their talents to move the progress of the initiative forward. This can sometimes come in the form of agreement and other times in the form of constructive disagreement.
It is not wise for the follower to jump off the cliff if the leader instructs them to do so without first questioning why. Questioning leadership helps them galvanize their plans into workable solutions so that the end result is far better than if they only consulted their own set of personal insights. This collective gathering of feedback from followers to leaders brings about more significant buy in and ownership in the projects at hand.
It keeps leaders in check so they must continuously improve their own skills to bring to the workplace to share. Followers improve their skills to knock the leader off center and thus again forward progress takes place by everyone staying on top of their skills and talents through continuous improvement.
As you challenge this theory this week, take a look at your leadership skills and at your follower skills. You need both to be a great leader and provide an example to develop great followers.
Questions or comments - email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
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