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Leaders & Followers

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Martha Pool, poolfam@verizon.net, 740-569-7691

Leaders and Followers: Both are Needed

Good leadership is no longer just a matter of power, position, or the right of a few to have dominion over many. Following requires more than an attitude of subservience, acceptance of dominance, or acquiescence to a permanent state of passivity. Like the abilities of leading, neither genetics nor formulas decide the essence of following. We learn leadership and “followership.” Leaders, in partnership with followers, can release the full potential of competent, ethical leadership only when mutual understanding and valuing of the unique relationship of their interdependence exists.

Competence in following requires artistry and skill at a level that is difficult to articulate in any compelling way. Here are a few ideas about characteristics of followers that can help create an environment in which good leadership can flourish.

Those who follow:

	Value themselves and their contributions.
	Don’t apply the label of leader or follower to themselves or others as if the labels were unchangeable and sole indicators of identity.
	Admire and value leaders without deifying them or diminishing themselves.
	Constructively respond to change and adapt rather than resist.
	Read reality – of the past and present – and contribute greatly to accurate analysis, interpretation, and wise judgment in planning for the future.
	Listen first and seek to understand, trusting that a better way of seeing and doing things results from an openness to learning.
	Ask questions that clarify issues and open up possibilities.
	Engender trust in themselves and others by operating in a trustworthy and dependable manner.
	Have an awareness of the “bigger picture” and see the connection between the tasks they perform and the larger vision.
	Evaluate production processes and come up with creative, well thought-out options for how to do things better.
	Bring more than a problem to your attention – they bring options for solving it.
	Don’t wait to be asked – they initiate.
	Can be counted on to do what they agreed to do, and more.

You could say that these characteristics equally apply to leadership. The lines between leadership and followership need to be perforated, if not erased, and dispense with valuing one over the other. They are different and both are needed. And most importantly, there are shared core elements. If women are provided the opportunity to cultivate the qualities listed above, then there is no reason to believe that both leaders and followers can emerge and effectively work together for the common good.

Perhaps the best leadership training teaches followership, too!

How would you rate yourself as a follower? Can you recall a time when you were valued as a follower? Have there been times when you have not been valued as a follower?

What other followership qualities would you add to the list? Are there some qualities you think should be omitted?

Let me hear from you about your ideas on followership!

Joyfully, Martha

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Leaders and Followers: Both are Needed

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