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Cracking the Code Successful leadership begins with great followership.

Guest post by: Patrick T. Malone

Article Overview: For decades, experts have said that leadership is intangible, un-measureable. But if you look at any great leader, you see that leadership is clearly measurable. Leaders are determined by their followers. No followers. No leader. In business, leadership occurs at all levels – from the executive suite to the shop floor – and at every level in between. Influential leaders, no matter what title they have or role they play, are those with willing followers. Leadership is merely getting wholehearted followers for a given course of action.

Cracking the Code Successful leadership begins with great followership.

For decades, experts have said that leadership is intangible, un-measureable. But if you look at any great leader, you see that leadership is clearly measurable. Leaders are determined by their followers. No followers. No leader.

In business, leadership occurs at all levels - from the executive suite to the shop floor - and at every level in between. Influential leaders, no matter what title they have or role they play, are those with willing followers. Leadership is merely getting wholehearted followers for a given course of action. Unfortunately, too many potential leaders ignore followership and focus instead on being more engaging, convincing, or interesting. Or, sometimes, they even rely on their positional power and end up, not with committed followers, but with agreements at best, compliance at worst, and marginal business results.

Whole-hearted followers imply leaders have engaged their followers emotionally and intellectually - both in the heart and in the head. Whole-hearted also implies that the follower makes the decision. The follower is the one who decides to give his or her commitment.

Most successful people start their leadership interactions by establishing a common goal. Leaders understand the difference between goals and strategies. Goals are always outcome-oriented, starting with the end in mind. Strategies are plans a leader has for reaching a goal.

Now, how do you gain willing followers and whole-hearted commitments?

The first step starts with the conversation you have with a potential follower. Here you express your decision goals, and you include three critical decision goal elements: 1) a confident statement of the goal which has value or benefit to the potential followers; 2) an invitation for followers to look at or listen to the goal and strategy; and 3) an acknowledgement that the potential followers are decision-makers.

Take the following conversation opener as an example: "I believe we can reach our target of expense reduction by making a few changes to our process. Let's discuss this approach, and you decide if it is something you can support."

In this statement you see the decision elements at work. By stating your confidence when you put forth an idea for others to decide on and treating followers as decision makers, you have a greater chance of being heard with an open mind and of gaining credibility.

Unfortunately, planning and logic alone can't guarantee that a plan or strategy will result in commitment. Commitments are whole-hearted decisions, and that means engaging the heart (emotions) as well as the head (logic.)

Not everyone sees the same information the same way. Because emotions shape logic, the way we look at information is different if we are fearful than if we are interested.

Opening conversations with a well-stated decision goal establishes rapport, openness, and trust. Also, this lets your followers know they are the decision makers so they feel safer talking and revealing their true attitudes toward a plan.

A follower's potential attitudes can be categorized as positive, negative or neutral. However, because attitudes are situational, they can change moment-to-moment. So, when we talk about attitudes, we mean attitudes in the moment. Exceptional leaders intuitively recognize momentary changes in attitudes or points of view in a conversation. They focus more on how something is said, and by that, what is said makes more sense.

Recognizing and adapting is what enables leaders to influence others. For example, when you give someone directions to your home or office, you first determine the other person's location or starting point. The directions you then give vary based on where the other person is at that moment in time. The same is true for leadership interactions.

If a potential follower considers your goal and strategy difficult to execute, then you must simplify both. If a follower sees a plan as risky, you mitigate or eliminate the risk. If a follower is skeptical, you provide proof. Because followers demonstrate a variety of different attitudes, you need a range of responses that make sense to each potential follower. The key to finding the right response is to have followers share their points of view and how they see a situation. As a result, you know from your follower's perceptive what is difficult, risky or unbelievable.

Regardless of a potential follower's response, you must treat your followers seriously so they talk openly or seriously consider your goals and strategies. This is where Rapport Acknowledgment helps.

Acknowledging another person's point of view and taking that person seriously are not difficult, especially if you do the following:

Give 100 percent attention: Prove you care by suspending all other activities (no email, phone calls, or television) Also, suspend your own point of view and show interest in what the other person is saying.

Respond: Responses can be both verbal and nonverbal (nods, expressing interest). The key is to show that you received the message, and more importantly, that the message had an impact. When responding, speak at the same energy level as the other person. Then you know you really got through and don't have to keep repeating.

Prove understanding: Saying I understand is not enough. People need evidence or proof of understanding. You can prove understanding by occasionally restating the gist of an idea or by asking questions which prove you know the main idea. You are proving you understand, not proving you are listening. The difference in these two intentions transmits remarkably different messages when people are communicating.

Prove respect: Take others' views seriously. Telling someone, I appreciate your position, or I know how you feel, seldom helps. These responses are usually followed by the word "but" and your own viewpoint. Instead, show respect for the other person's view by willingly communicating at his or her level of understanding and attitude. This happens naturally; an adjustment in tone of voice, rate of speech and choice of words shows you are imaging being where the other person is at the moment.

Rapport acknowledgments go a long way to helping others see they are being taken seriously, and in turn, they will take you seriously as their leader.

Clearly the ability to obtain a wholehearted follower for a given course of action involves more than we have articulated here. However, understanding that successful leaders are great followers first will assist you in becoming a better, more effective leader

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Article Tags: business leadership, followers, followership, influential leaders



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