Leadership is so last year: why being a follower is more important. - 5 things to: LWRSUD
A few years ago, while I was leading a Leadership Seminar, someone made a point that has stayed with me ever since: leaders are only leaders because people choose to follow them. In that sense, the most important person in the room may actually be the first follower. A hugely intuitive and somewhat obvious things to say! So perhaps leadership is less about the person at the front and more about the people who choose to stand behind them. A leader is validated by followers and especially by the first person willing to step forward and support the vision.
Thinking about that in terms of organisations and it becomes even more interesting. A business can’t function with a room full of leaders and no one willing to follow through, collaborate, and execute. Every successful organisation depends on people who can both lead when needed and follow when it matters. Why do we place so much emphasis on leadership alone? Shouldn’t we also celebrate great followers - the people who bring momentum, loyalty, challenge, and support to those in charge? After all, everyone is a follower at some level, even the most senior executives. Maybe it’s time to stop asking only about leadership style and start asking a different question: how well does this person follow?
So, these 5 things explore the often-overlooked art of following and why it may be just as important as leadership itself.
Listen: Growing as a Follower in a Culture Obsessed with Leadership (Richard Langer, Joanne Jung)
Great podcast! Richard and Joanne discuss our preoccupation with leadership and suggest we should be focusing on followers. They cover our obsession with leadership, the harmful assumptions of leadership e.g. “leadership is viewed as this kind of unalloyed good that can be abused…but is nevertheless always the highest form of what we’re called to do” and discusses how followership is not passive. It’s quite long – 40 mins, but it has a transcript if you’re not into long listening.
Watch: First follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy YouTube
This short clip demonstrates exactly why followers, particularly the first follower, are needed. The key point made is that leadership is over-glorified., but the first follower transformed a lone nut into a leader. There is no movement without the first follower. We're told we all need to be leaders, but that would be really ineffective. It’s worth thinking about!
Read: The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders (Chaleff, 1992)
There are more books celebrating followers than I expected, but I picked this one because I like its take on communication. Chaleff’s (now fairly dated) book focuses on upward information flow and how people throughout an organisation can help leaders learn, spot risks, and avoid avoidable mistakes. What’s particularly useful is that he explores how followers can contribute to learning and improvement even when they sit several layers below senior leadership. That distance is often seen as a barrier, so his practical focus on influencing from lower levels is useful. He also offers guidance for leaders and boards on creating a culture where courageous followership is encouraged rather than punished. The one thing that did nark me with this book (and others) is the underlying suggestion that followers exist to develop leaders, rather than leaders existing to enable and develop their people.
Sign up to: Leadership and Followship Open University
And if you want to know more, sign up to this free OU course (other online courses may be available )!
Do: Identify and acknowledge who you follow and why
This is a thought on the value of influence over authority. We often go out of our way for leaders who aren’t our managers and don’t have any formal control over our work. So why do we choose to support them? It’s worth paying attention to the qualities these people have - the people we willingly follow without being required to. Chances are, there’s something in their approach that’s worth emulating.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Roehampton University
and Women-Space Associate