Nearly everything I read has something to say about leadership. In one way or another, authors tell us: “this is what a leaders does; this is what a leader needs to do; this is what a leader should focus on.”
In the book I presented last Friday at our monthly event, the First Friday Book Synopsis, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt, we learned that “developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader…”
I don’t disagree with that, or most of the other things I read about leadership. The fact is that leadership is an all-encompassing, incredibly important role. Good leaders can create good and successful companies and organizations. Bad leaders can lead to genuine problems, even the destruction or disintegration of a company or organization. Many stories of each are everywhere available.
But I think there is one “this is the main task of leadership” consideration that trumps them all. It is the task of a leader to attract followers. Because, if there are no followers, there is no leader. Leadership is not a “title,” it is a fact. And followership may be the single biggest signal of successful leadership.
In the book, Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright focus on the “tribal” metaphor for companies and organizations.
It’s as though our tribe is part of our genetic code. Birds flock, fish school, people “tribe.”
In a tribe, leadership is truly critical. And as they describe successful tribal leadership, they give this short, simple assertion:
Tribal Leaders are talent magnets, with people so eager to work for the leader that they will take a pay cut if necessary.
People have a need for good leaders; people need to follow good leaders. Tribal leaders attract followers — followers practically fight to get “under the leadership” of a good tribal leader.
The book proposes five stages of tribal leadership (from the book):
Stage |
Collaboration |
Mood |
Theme |
5 |
Team |
Innocent Wonderment |
“Life is Great” |
4 |
Partnership |
Tribal Pride |
“We’re Great (and they’re not)” |
3 |
Personal |
Lone Warrior |
“I’m Great (and you’re not)” |
2 |
Separate |
Apathetic Victim |
“My life sucks” |
1 |
Alienated |
Despairing Hostility |
“Life sucks” |
In this list, the goal for the tribal leader is to aim for stage 5, and help each tribe member move up the stages together. Yes, to “move up together – to “follow the leader.”
The leader says, “this is where we are going – together. Now, let’s go.” Building followership to take that journey together is the test of, the proof of, genuine leadership.
Watch an excerpt of Randy’s synopsis of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy here: http://youtu.be/81utxu3PIWw