The Key To Leadership:

If you Google “leadership” you’ll see a definition followed by page after page on the topic. If you were to search “how to be a good leader” you would see article after article discussing leadership qualities that good leaders share, or steps to follow to become a good leader. What you will not immediately find is a discussion on followership. A quick search of followership will yield an equal number of results, and the articles on followership often link followership with leadership. However, followership isn’t thought of as a top quality to possess in strictly leadership-oriented discussions. I’m here to argue that followership is more than just a component of leadership. Good leaders are great followers. It seems contradictory. There are leaders and followers. Followers follow leaders by definition. They are necessarily opposite, but simultaneously intertwined.

There are many reasons why followership is not a major point in leadership discussions. It’s not sexy. People don’t dream of being a follower. People dream of being heroes. People want to be General Patton, or Tom Brady. People want to be Michael Jordan, or Steve Jobs. People don’t dream of being the intern or secretary who made the hero’s coffee.

Leaders aren’t born. They’re made. There’s not a leader who has existed who wasn’t at one time a follower, and there’s a reason why. Most professional organizations know and understand this. Many corporations, both big and small offer leadership training programs to boost leadership potential withing in their own organizations. In the military, leaders go to various schools to lean about leadership before they’re put in charge of formations. However, it’s only in basic training that the importance of following orders is truly emphasized. Why should leaders consider followership?

For starters, everyone is a follower, with very few exceptions. Quarterbacks answer to the head coach. The coach answers to the general manager or owner. Colonels answer to generals, who answer to secretaries, who answer to the president. Followers can easily recognize that their leaders are also followers, and they will follow the example set by their leaders. Consequently, leaders should be the type of follower that they desire to also lead. This will provide at least a couple of benefits.

First, as alluded to above, followers follow the example of their leaders. A leader who demonstrates good followership will likely benefit from good followers more than a leader who demonstrates poor followership. A leader who disrespects his superior, will be disrespected. A leader who demonstrates respect for her superior, will command respect. A leader who accomplishes the tasks assigned to her can expect to have the task she assigns to be accomplished. A leader who fails the tasks assigned to him can expect his subordinates to fail him.

Second, a leader who practices good followership will continually be in a frame of mind to understand what his followers might be concerned with. Understanding the needs of followers will help leaders be better leaders. Empathy appears on many of those lists of characteristics that good leaders possess, but being able to empathize specifically with followers can better anticipate the needs, problems, and obstacles his followers have. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were given the order that you’re about to give? Do your subordinates have the resources to do what you’re about to tell them to do?

Do you want to be a good leader? Don’t focus on steps to follow to become a good leader, or worry about whether or not you have the right characteristics of a good leader. Don’t worry about whether or not you’re making the right/best decisions (at first). Do what you’re told to do. Be the example of what you want your followers to be. Be a great follower!