When there is a crisis, when a company fails or commits some malfeasance, everyone cries out: “How could that have happened here? How come nobody said anything?” Followers have a responsibility to speak up.
No matter how much partnership and empowerment there is, the CEO has ultimate authority and responsibility. But what about the responsibilities of the CEO’s followers? The most capable team members fail when they gripe about their leader but do not say or do anything to help him or her improve or get back on track. This requires courage and skill.
What distinguishes an effective follower from an ineffective one is intelligent, responsible and enthusiastic participation in the pursuit of an organizational goal, according to Robert E. Kelly in the Harvard Business Review.
The movement away from command and control leadership has brought new leadership styles that are more democratic and coach-like. The terms “shared leadership,” and “servant leader” are used to describe some of these new ways of interacting. There are also new ways of interacting in the follower role. Setting aside possible aversion to the term, the new flatter business organization requires more responsible followers.
The Job of Effective Followers The sooner we recognize and accept our powerful position as followers, the sooner we can fully develop responsible, synergistic relationships in our organizations. There are three things we need to understand in order to fully assume responsibility as followers.
1. Understand our power and how to use it. As followers, we have far more power than we usually acknowledge. We must understand the sources of our power, whom we serve and the tools we have to achieve the group’s mission. We have a unique vantage point as follower or team member, but we have to know that and use it.
2. Appreciate the value of the leader and the contributions he or she makes to forward the organization’s mission. We need to understand the pressures upon the leader that can wear down creativity, good humor and resolve. We can learn how to minimize these forces and contribute to bringing out the leader’s strengths for the good of the group and the common purpose.
3. Work toward minimizing the pitfalls of power by helping the leader to remain on track for the long- term common good. We are all witness to how power can corrupt, and it takes courage and skill to speak up. We can learn how to counteract the dark tendency of power. Feedback to the leader is necessary for the new leadership styles to be effective.
Speaking up to the Boss Part of the problem in following responsibly and pro- actively lies in the tendency for people to relate to authority figures as they would in a parent-child relationship. Early childhood memories are deeply embedded in the subconscious and trigger emotions in a split second. These memories are often out of our awareness, and it doesn’t take much─ a look, a tone of voice─ to trigger anger or anxiety when confronted by the boss. Developing one’s degree of emotional intelligence can help regulate these split second reactions and allow more logical and appropriate interactions.
The danger in the leader-follower relationship is the assumption that the leader’s interpretation must dominate. If this assumption exists on the part of either the leader or the follower, both are at risk. The leader’s openness will diminish. Followers will easily lose their unique perspective and abandon healthy disagreement. Creativity and problem-solving processes become stifled.
It is obviously not an easy task to speak up and challenge the leader, but without the courage and skill to do so, corporate scandals can ensue. Giving candid feedback to the boss is a skill that is not practiced as often as necessary. Working with a neutral party such as a consultant or executive coach can help a follower or executive team member to act courageously and effectively.
Do You Follow Your Leader? - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 |
Related Articles |
|
 The Art of Leadership: Part One
|
| |
How do we begin to understand the art of leadership and its indisputable importance in today’s world? We read, hear, and talk about leadership all the time. The context varies but the importance of strong leadersh...
|
|
The Qualities that Hire Leaders
|
| |
What makes a great leader? There is no exact formula or definition - leadership is made through thought and action. Read about the qualities that comprise great leaders.
|
|
10 Leadership Tips for Lawyers
|
| |
Even if you don’t have your own firm or if you are not a partner, you can be a leader of your team or even yourself. All lawyers need a vision, mission, goals and business plan/marketing plan to be successful.Not a...
|
|
Personality Traits Of Effective Leaders - Part Two
|
| |
We continue our discovery of traits effective leaders with five more each of us can use to develop ourselves on the way to the top.
|
|
Principles of leadership
|
| |
"And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkend unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the Lor...
|
|
|
John Brennan
(Visit John's Website)
John Brennan Ed.D.
Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal
Development, LLC, a training and
development firm. Interpersonal
Development has provided sales training
and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps
from over 100 companies.
A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan
received his doctorate from the University
of Rochester. His dissertation researched
the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling
Technology in training people in
interpersonal skills. While he has spent
most of his career designing or delivering
training, he was also a Vice-President of
Sales of a training and development
franchise with operations in 25 markets.
Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered
sales training in North America, Asia,
Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He
has been a guest speaker at numerous
national and regional professional
conferences.
When Microsoft wanted Best Practices
articles on sales for their web site, they
called Dr. Brennan. The results are at office.microsoft.com/e
n-us/FX011387391033.aspx
His firm’s clients have included Volvo,
The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman
Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the
Economist Group and countless small
businesses.
|
|
 |
|
|
John Brennan's
Complete
List Of
Sales
Articles
|
|
|
If you enjoyed this article, get John Brennan's Complete List of Sales Articles For FREE!
|
| |
|
|
|
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
