Followership is the NEW Leadership

Leadership vs Follower-ship

Often, we hear about the importance of leadership.  Some of the most popular articles trending recently:

Five things great leaders do every day.  

What effective leaders do during the first 10 minutes of their day.

10 Steps to better leadership

These are all important topics and valuable skills to master.  What we don't hear a lot about, however, is what it takes to be a good follower. Followership is equally important for an organization and for a leader as well. Even as a leader you won't get to be in charge in every situation.

Here's what it takes to be a great follower.

Humility -  It takes courage to be humble.  When we are humble we are willing to be in service and of service to others.  We are willing to be told what to do rather than doing the telling. 

Listening - Listen to understand. That's a pretty common theory. To go one step further we must listen to be influenced.  Listen in such a deep and thoughtful way that you could have an ah-ha moment, learn something, or experience a chance in perspective. 

Compromise - You can't win them all. Sometimes when working with others, an idea will surface that is not yours and/or you don't particularly support. Even if you're not 100% comfortable with the direction you should be 100 percent committed. That means you will give your all to make that idea or solution a success even though it's not the idea that you preferred. 

 

Objectivity – See the good in other people's ideas.  Also, be willing to share your ideas and be able to have those ideas critiqued as well. Be your own devil’s advocate too.

Trust - We could spend the whole day talking about trust.  You can get business done without it, but you can get business done much better with high levels of trust. Trust changes our willingness to share. It changes relationships by making them more collaborative. People get things done faster when there is less suspicion and doubt.  Allow others to earn your trust by showing you what they are capable of doing. You must be willing to extend trust and earn trust as well.  

The process is not linear.  It's cyclical and dependent.  It takes humility to trust and listen.  You must be objective to compromise and trust.  Listening will help you compromise and remain objective.  All the traits of the great follower work together.  Practice them all every day; even while you lead.

Enhance Business Solutions is a training and performance improvement firm specializing in coaching, leadership and employee development. 

www.yourenhance.com