Five Characteristics Of A Great Follower

Leadership is overrated. It is the followers that get it done. Or is it?

 

I’m not against leadership. I’m against how it is perceived. Every organization needs leaders who remind everyone what kind of hay they are making and why. That’s it. I don’t believe a leader’s role is that of a caring parent. And, I don’t believe the role of a follower is to cede their responsibility in the organization to someone else.

 

Too many times in today’s world we find leaders who think they are responsible for their employees well being. Their role is to exercise authority by organizing, inducing, coercing, and/or motivating those lower on the ladder. We also find too many employees all too happy to play the child in the parent/child relationship. This provides cover for poor performance and allows them to forever bitch about how poor leadership is responsible for their lot in life. Enough.

 

Successful organizations in the future will be a community of people wrapped around a common purpose – a purpose that calls to the higher aspirations of people. It’s time we as individuals stopped abdicating to others, find a shared purpose that’s in accordance with our principles, and learn how to be a great follower. Here are five characteristics of a great follower: Read more...