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GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS

Written by: Dr Adalat Khan

Article Overview: Behind the success of every great leader is the support, hard work and invisible struggle of many unknown people who are known as the ‘followers’. Without the support and commitment of good followers the birth of great personalities like Alexander the Great, Nelson Mandela, Umar Bin Khatab etc. and so many others would have been unimaginable.

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GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS

GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS



Behind the success of every great leader is the support, hard work and invisible struggle of many unknown people who are known as the ‘followers’. Without the support and commitment of good followers the birth of great personalities like Alexander the Great, Nelson Mandela, Umar Bin Khatab etc. and so many others would have been unimaginable.

I also believe that many leaders who could have become as great or even greater than the one mentioned here, miserably failed and did not rise because of the lousy followers they had.

Management gurus and leadership experts have written volumes on leaders and the theories of leadership. Theories such as traits theory of leadership, Transformational leadership, Charismatic leadership, and so many other theories have in greater length discussed the topic of leadership. However very little has been written about the qualities of these unknown soldiers who commit their hearts and souls to achieve their leaders goals. Almost every leader in one way or the other owes his/her success to these followers. Without their help no leader can achieve success.

I also strongly believe that no doubt we need excellent leaders to take us to the future, but we also need good followers to help these leaders realise their dreams. For them to be called good followers they need to possess certain qualities which will be mentioned in this article.

QUALITIES OF GOOD FOLLOWERS The critical role which followers can play in the success of a leader necessitate them to have, acquire, and practice certain qualities. These qualities are:

1- UNDERSTAND, SUPPORT, AND WORK FOR THE LEADER’S VISION Followers should understand and accurately comprehend their leader’s vision. They must also commit themselves to support that vision. One difficulty which could crop in this regard is the possibility of conflict between the followers and a leader’s vision. To plug this gap followers should align their vision with that of their leader’s. Not only that, but followers must also work very hard to achieve and realise the leader’s vision. They must own the leader’s vision and take it on themselves to make it happen.

2- HELP THE LEADER TO SUCCEED: Followers can either be like fuel providing energy or roadblocks creating hurdles for the efforts of a leader. Good followers however help the leader to succeed and do whatever it takes to achieve success. Having a winner’s mentality and deriving pleasure form the leader’s success is a quality to be possessed by them.

3- POVIDE OPEN, HONEST AND ACCURATE INFORMATION: Most of the leaders base their decisions on the information provided to them by their followers. If these information are accurate and honest it will lead to good decision. Conversely, in-accurate and dishonest information will lead to terrible decisions. History is full of many sad examples where leaders made terrible decision because of the wrong and dishonest advice of people surrounding them. The invasion of Cuba by USA, the onslaught of Afghanistan by Russia and many other disastrous decisions were made mainly due to lousy information submitted by incompetent followers. It is also necessary to mention here that all information provided to a leader by a follower may not be good news or pleasant. At times certain information will be upsetting but a good follower must forewarn the leader and need act as their mind guards.

4- A POSITIVE AND CAN DO ATTITUDE: The phrase ‘recruit for attitude and train for skills’ is highly relevant for all followers. Sometimes when faced with difficulties even great leaders lose hope- during which times the followers could help them by reminding and reassuring them that they could succeed. It is a fact that all human being are capable of doing anything but only those succeed who possess the can do attitude. It is equally true that a person’s altitude is determined by his/her attitude. As such good followers must possess positive and a can do attitude.

5- LEARNING ATTITUDE: Learning, the ability to understand one’s limitations, the courage to unlearn negative ideas and beliefs and the desire to acquire new knowledge, skills, and attitude is yet another quality necessary for good followers. To keep pace with the fast changing world of today people need to update themselves with new knowledge. The absence of a learning attitude on the part of a follower can have misfortunate consequences for everyone and their organisations.

Leaders set visions of a better future and their followers create conditions for realising them. The critical role which followers play in the rise or fall of their leaders necessitates that all followers must have the qualities of a good follower. Are you a leader or a follower? If you are a leader search for or create followers having these qualities. But if you are a follower and possess these qualities congratulate yourself and always remember that “GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS’’.

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Home > Leadership > Dr Adalat Khan > GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS
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About the Author: Dr Adalat Khan
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Dr Adalat Khan or fondly also know as Dr. Khan is an authority on leadership, self leadership and management and communication skills. For the past 23 years he has impacted and positively influenced the lives of thousands of people all over the world and coming from various cultural backgrounds. Dr Khan is a popular and highly demanded keynote speaker, and seminar leader frequently sought by corporations, organizations, associations and universities around the world. Dr. Khan is a terrific orator and a great influencer. He is known among his trainees and pupils as a Great Coach, Great Mentor, Enthralling Speaker, and above all a Great Human Being. Academically Dr. Khan holds a number of prestigious qualifications including Doctorate in Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, a degree in law and various post-graduate diplomas. His academic pursuit took is spread over three continents and many countries. He is a visiting professor to a couple of local and foreign universities in the USA. His training and consultancy experience covered over almost two decades include. He providing consultancies to Medtronics International (Holland) the biggest pace making company in the world in their switch over to Japanese style of management, German Agency for development Co-operation (GTZ) for designing and conducting Entrepreneurship training, the Swiss Government for developing policy for the promotion of small and medium scale industries. Dr Adalat Khan is a successful entrepreneur and a president of two companies. He is the president of MINA RESOURCE www.mina.edu.my a leading Malaysian Management consultancy and ,educational organization and Mina Management Institute www.mina.edu.my . He is also the member Advisory Council of American Central University www.acusa.net . He is an internationally renowned trainer and consultant, registered on the roasters of ILO United Nations, The Islamic Development Bank, The Asian Development Bank and The Commonwealth Secretariat. His training clients include some of the Fortune 500 companies and he has also conducted many training program for Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), and International Youth Centre (IYC). During the past 15 years he has worked, trained and consulted with manufacturers, Government agencies, Banks, Insurance companies, and International agencies both in Malaysia and other countries. He is Certified trainer with The Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia, The Institute for Supervision and Management (ISM) UK, German Agency for development Co-operation (GTZ), The American Academy of Education, AED-USAID and is also Able Toast Masters, Toast Masters International-USA. A prolific writer who has written several articles publications, which are published in United Nation's publications, international magazines, WORLD EXECUTIVE DIGEST, and Management Times, and News Straits Times etc. He also reqularly writes for the American Chronicles, The California Chronicle, The Frontier post and many other international papers. His latest articles are listed at http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=2009 . PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP AND CERTIFICATIONS: * Certified trainer- The Human Resource Development Council (PSMB), Malaysia. * Certified trainer- The Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia. * Certified trainer by The Institute for Supervision and Management (ISM) UK * Certified trainer- German Agency for development Co-operation (GTZ) * Certified trainer by The American Academy of Education, AED-USAID. * Member of United States Distance Learning Association-USDLA, * The Planning Forum USA * MALAYSIAN SOCIETY FOR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, * NED United Nations.o Able Toast Masters, Toast Masters International-USA. Free Articles & Book Excerpts How to excel in Self-leadership Comprehensive emergency management Islamic Leadership Principles Winning Strategies for Personal Excellence

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I really feel great today because . . . . . I really feel great today because . . . . . - Please put the full date at the top of the page and finish this sentence: I REALLY FEEL GREAT TODAY BECAUSE . . . . . .
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