Prologue
I’m often asked how to become the leader others follow. In my study, it occurs to me that the very best leaders master the art of following before they master art of leading.
I grew up in a time when command-and-control was in vogue. In your career, if you were a so called “high performer”, more often than not you were promoted to a position of manager and leader of a team. As an example, I observed many times when the very best salesperson was promoted to sales manager. Sometimes that worked but more often than not, it didn’t.
Further, since we were all working for the same command-and-control leader(s), command-and-control was a “learned discipline.” Like hand me down clothes from your older brother or sister. Command-and-control didn’t work well then, and it darn sure doesn’t work well now!
“Be a leader that people want to follow.” (Brian Tracy)
Related topics
The Best Leaders Are Great Followers
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Executive Coachability and the Growth Mindset | Convergent Group
Become the Leader Others Follow: Five followership capabilities
According to the Harvard Business Review, in the article entitled “The Best Leaders are Great Followers” cultivate five followership capabilities:
- Active listening,
- Prioritizing purpose over personal credit,
- Reliable execution,
- Critical dissent, and
- Coachability.
EDITORS NOTE: I’m often asked why I cite HBR articles in my work. When I pursued my MBA, we often were given Harvard Business Review case studies to discuss, amplify on and solve. A great way to learn! And, along the way, I respected the disciplined & orderly process.
Practice these skills until they become rote: “Mobilize collective intelligence, reduce blind spots, build trust, and make others genuinely want to follow.”
As an example, HBR profiles Satya Nadella, current head of Microsoft. Mr. Nadella has rebuilt Microsoft from the Ballmer era “not through top-down decrees but by listening deeply to engineers, customers, and critics (a/k/a “stakeholders”) in the enterprise.
Tim Cook, currently CEO of Apple, spent years as the quietly empathetic operational lieutenant to Steve Jobs. He followed the data, processes, and expert input with near-religious discipline, qualities that later enabled him to create one of the most valuable companies in history.
Good followership: the missing element of leadership
Further, as the article points out, “Leaders are portrayed as visionary mavericks, charismatic disruptors, or moral change agents somehow blessed with a magical touch. And most research still treats followers as passive recipients of leadership.”
“Leadership and followership are a co-created, fluid, role-switching process rather than a fixed one-way hierarchy. Master the capacity to follow well, even from a position of power.”
“At its core, effective followership requires the capacity to learn, listen, collaborate, challenge, and adjust in service of something larger than oneself.” Ah, where have I heard that one before?
Impressive results in business or life are more often than not a collective group effort. Not an individual lone ranger effort. Good leadership is defined as “the capacity to persuade a group of people to become a high-performing team.”
“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” (Socrates)
What wants to get in the way?
Followership skills don’t come naturally to most people. As such, effective leaders adapt and “rewire their neural nets.”
You see, once you are given the power to tell others what to do, others will typically follow, even when they don’t like it.
“Leadership is to make others want to follow them, which requires modeling good follower behavior as a leader: exhibiting humility, genuine curiosity, receptivity to feedback and dissent, loyalty to purpose rather than your own ego.”
Why good followership is the good leadership model for the future
Ai in the workplace is becoming ubiquitous. As a result, it is very quickly making everyone on the team an expert. I would encourage you to embrace it, not resent it. After all, you can’t know everything!
EQ (emotional intelligence) is what separates the great leaders from good leaders. “They must have the ability to create genuine connections and understand others’ feelings. They must bring people together, connect ideas, continually learn, and blend diverse perspectives. They need to understand when to step back, when to support others, and when to rely on someone else’s specialized knowledge.” Great football coaches know instinctively that coaching is tailored uniquely to the individual. Some need a shove, some need a shout, and some simply need to shut up and be left alone.
Active listening
Nobody said this better and succinctly like Stephen Covey, “Seek first to understand, then be understood.”
Followers take in information without filtering it through ego, fear, or hierarchy. They don’t get defensive when new information is out of sync with their personal beliefs or ideas.
Prioritize purpose, not personal credit
Followers care more about team-based outcomes rather than individual accolades.
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” (Harry S. Truman)
Reliable Execution
Followers are movers and shakers. Typically, they make things happen. They transform vision in a series of executable strategies that drive winning outcomes. Naturally, the same can be said of great leaders.
Critical Dissent
“Competent followers challenge constructively. They ask questions, flag risks, and speak up when something is off, providing invaluable insights and intel on the organization, and helping things get better.”
Leaders’ who don’t resent pushback become a competitive advantage. It expands the organization’s intelligence beyond their own.”
Coachability
Followers are continuous learners. They learn to create and curate broader perspectives.
The best leaders are exemplary followers: people who actively listen, continuous learners, collaborators, question bravely, and adjust continually.
In closing
Because effective leaders follow so well, others willingly follow them.
