There’s an enormous amount of focus on leadership, and this is understandable. Good leaders make a huge difference as they improve organisations and the wider world, while bad leaders can leave an ugly mark of bad results and damaged people. There’s much, much less focus on followership, about 1000 times less it would seem! My google search on followership returned a thousand times fewer hits than a search on leadership, and I found that Amazon has a thousand times more books on leadership than it has on followership.
I think followership deserves much more attention than this. Batman needed Robin’s enthusiasm and energy to keep Gotham City safe, John and Paul needed the steady beat of Ringo Starr to make Abbey Road musically great, and Chris Froome wouldn’t have won his fourth Tour de France earlier in the year without the contributions of the other riders from Team Sky. Closer to home, millions of businesses wouldn’t survive without the loyal followers who make their dedicated contributions day in and day out, while community and sporting organisations wouldn’t stand a chance if they didn’t have their committed volunteers.
Here are 10 of my own observations about followership that underscore it’s importance:
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Followers outnumber leaders by a large margin. Assuming average spans of control of 5 we can expect that there are 5 times as many followers as leaders in organisational settings.
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Everyone will be a a follower through her or his lifetime but not everyone will be a leader.
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Almost all leaders simultaneously hold the role of follower, as they follow the leads set by higher level managers, boards and elected members.
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Leaders need followers. Peter Drucker made the point this way: “the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers”.
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Great followers, like great leaders, are rare. They deserve to be recognised and rewarded for the valuable contribution they make.
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Good followers often take the step into leadership. One of the best ways of “auditioning” for a leadership role is to be a really good follower.
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Successful leaders aren’t always good followers, and good followers don’t always make good leaders.
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People can improve their followership skills, just as they can improve their leadership skills.
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Followership doesn’t imply passivity, nor does it indicate unquestioning obedience. Good followers will suggest new ideas and will raise objections when needed.
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The best followers I have known listen, offer ideas, put others first, take responsibility, think before acting, understand the goal, support their leaders, work well with colleagues, do work to a high standard and bring their “A games” every day.
The Best Followers:
Good followers are worth their weight in gold. Let’s all strive to become the best followers we can be, and let’s celebrate the often overlooked contribution of the people who perform this critical role well.
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