Tweet

Leadership Truth #9 - Great Leaders Foster Great Followership

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: For centuries, most of the focus has been on leaders and leadership. There is a new trend over the past decade to also focus on great followership. We are all leaders and followers for some portion of the time. This article compares and contrasts these two roles.

Leadership Truth #9 - Great Leaders Foster Great Followership

The lopsided energy around leadership skill is finally getting some ballast in leadership development circles. Recently there have been numerous articles and books that refer to the critical importance of followership. The simple fact is that without followers, leaders would fail by definition like a sailing ship and captain with no crew. Why is it that all the emphasis has historically been on developing good leaders rather than good followers?

It is more glamorous to focus on the characteristics that separate out the few from the many. Since most cultures at least attempt to revere their leaders, understanding the common characteristics of leaders makes for interesting reading. If you are already a leader, it helps you justify your position and focus on things that ostensibly could propel you further in greatness. If you are an aspiring leader, focusing on the subject can be a learning experience where people dream of becoming wealthy and powerful because they legitimately rose to the top of an organization.

But what about the majority of people who are not leaders and do not even aspire to become leaders? Even for them, the study of leadership seems more sexy than followership, because it illuminates the chasm between their world and the rarified air of official leaders. Unfortunately, all this focus on the leader's role and skills has masked a subject of equal or even greater importance: the skills and role of the followers.

There are two reasons for an increased focus on followership. First, the concept of The Servant Leader brought forward by Ken Blanchard and other authors, began a shift of focus away from the "great man" theory to one where even the leader becomes, in effect, a follower much of the time. A shift to focus on the role of followers and what makes them critical became important. Second, the scandals of the early 2000s with Enron and several other high profile corporate abuses of power brought a realization that society would have been well served if the followers had understood their roles better. Perhaps some of the clueless or misguided ethical decisions could have been tempered if we all understood better what good followers are expected to do.

Warren Bennis put it this way:

"The new concern with followership stems largely from the recent tsunami of leaders gone wrong. This happens when leaders ignore the feedback they get from followers or when followers fail to give the feedback leaders need. From Enron, to 9/11, to the Catholic Church pedophile scandals, to the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, followers didn't grab the attention of leaders in time to avoid disaster. "

Whether it is to guard against ethical misconduct or to simply unleash the latent power in the mass of an organization, exceptional leaders do not feel obligated to always be the lead boat. The best leaders I know seem to be in a follower stance much of the time. Similar to a Democratic Presidential Primary, where the so-called "super delegates" are assumed to have higher insight than the regular delegates, formal leaders have a different role when they act like followers. They are pushing and probing to encourage others to share their truth so it can become operable. They reinforce the candor in others even if they do not agree with the content. It goes back to the concept of humility. Downwind leaders are not afraid to stand out and lead when it is required; they just do not have the perpetual need to show that they are better than other people. They consider themselves equal to the followers in terms of useful insight, so they can literally tap into the rich brainpower that exists all around them. That brainpower and emotional connection to the vision becomes the wind of trust.

When people see a leader truly value their insights and not belittle them for their conclusions, a more honest relationship emerges. In this environment, truth surfaces more quickly and easily, so the leader simply makes fewer blunders. Great leaders have an instinct that understanding and practicing followership is a better way to lead. They are able to set aside their ego enough to get the insight and power that is there, not by positional authority but by listening to and empowering others.

Related Articles
  Inspirational Leadership: Three Ideas To Build Inspiration
  “Essential Habits and Principles for Great Leadership”
  Ledership Vs. Followership
  Moving The Focus Away From The Leaders To The Followers
  Leader-Follower Theory and the Transformational Organization
  Choose Your Battles and Listen: Greg Foster
  Eliminating the Fear of Failure
  Nobody Trains to be a Follower
  Leader or Liar?
  To Tell the Truth
  Inspirational Leadership: You Go First
  The 9 Great Questions Real Leaders Often Ask
  Leader Interrupted
  Do You Have What It Takes to Lead?
  Making Your Leadership Your Life
  Blind Spots
  Lead Like Obama
  Emotionally Astute Leadership – Create a Clear Vision
  CEO Speak Out
  Attracting Holding Good Trade Show Traffic

Article Tags: Empowerment, Followership, Leadership, roles, Trust, values, vision



Related Forum Posts
Re: Business Women Peer Mentoring Spotlight - Hi Everyone, Gosh, I REALLY appreciate your concrete feedback. This was far more than I expected and I'm glad you said what you thought straight out. Each of you have shared something of value and I want to take some more time to think and really go over what each of you have said. However, I can see there are some things I need to change right away. What an interesting point about a NEW program perhaps making people think they are guinea pigs! This is NOT what I want to convey! It's funny how we can see some things so clearly in others while not always seeing it for ourselves! I must admit there are a few things I've been meaning to change (like my bio which is very outdated). Obviously, these things need to be higher on my priority list. You caught me like the plumber who puts his clients first and doesn't get around to fixing his own tap! As far as my target market, I do feel quite strongly about working with Women Leaders and doing Leadership Coaching with them. It's non-negotiable in my books. In my Executive Coaching training, the terms "Leaders" and "Executives" are interchangable. To me, an Executive is a Leader and so is the Business Woman or Entrepreneur who is CEO of her own business. I love working with decision makers! What I did learn is that I need to avoid opening up the Leadership term beyond what I described above. I'm also wondering if there is a misunderstanding with the general public as to what Leadership Coaching really is. Leadership Coaching is all about developing your leadership skills, both as a people manager and in more effectively running and growing the business. There is ALWAYS room for growth in some way. As well, sometimes, we just need a sounding board to clarify what our next BEST step is. In fact, if a woman thinks she has nothing to work on, then we aren't a good Client/Coach fit anyway. How can she grow if she doesn't see the value of expressing ALL of the great ability within her? How can her company grow if she doesn't see the value of strategic planning for the next best level? Thanks again to you all! I will go back to my website and really question whether I am conveying the right message. I got more than I bargained for in this Spotlight... you generously offered way more than I was asking. I think we could be on to something great for the Forum. Now it's time to let someone else have the spotlight. It would be great if everyone took a turn! In gratitude, Tami
Re: How to Promote Your Blog – The Definitive Guide to Promoting - Great information. Thanks so much for your help. I'm looking into google indexing right now and I'll be improving SEO moving forward. I checked out your blog and sites, too. Great content. Thank you...
Re: Welcome New Moderators in Addition to Our Fine Team! - Hey Terriz, Very nice to meet you . . . . Acapella ? . . . .Very cool. I used to listen to my uncle and his friends sing acapella on a Brooklyn NY street corner. Great memories . . .Great sound. Thanks Barry
Re: Weebly Free Websites... - Hi David, Great resource. I actually have a Weebly account but have never done anything with it. I'll agree the ease of setting up a website is very nice. It's clean and professional looking, and for someone that wants to just create a one page site or sales letter, it's a good alternative. Great find!
Re: Congratulations Topeyinka - Congrats Topeyinka! As Spiderman said "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"... Just kidding.. Have Fun!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Living on The Edge of Chaos...

What Type of Business Should I Start?

Providing Feedback

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.