You Aren’t Fit to Lead Until …
If you want to become a remarkable leader, follow a leader of character, conviction, and vision.
Don’t ask people to follow you until you’ve humbly followed someone else.
You aren’t fit to lead until you know how to follow.
Following is perhaps the most neglected development principle of remarkable leadership. Ego wants to be the leader. Humility, on the other hand, aspires to add value and make a difference, regardless of position.
Opportunities:
Opportunities abound for dedicated followers. But opportunities pass by while you’re waiting to become a remarkable leader.
Jimmy Collins, the retired COO of Chick-fil-A, and author of, “Creative Followership,” said, “Seeking Leadership roles never produced anything for me. When I chose the follower role there was no end to what I could accomplish.”
Following:
- Follow advice from those more knowledgeable.
- Follow a vision bigger than yourself.
- Follow someone you respect. Get behind the most noble person available.
- Follow someone who is going somewhere.
Remarkable leaders are remarkable followers.
Admiration of big-egoed-leaders degrades us all.
Worry less about becoming a remarkable leader and more about becoming a remarkable follower.
What role does following play in developing leaders?
What role does following play in the day-to-day life of successful leaders?
“Ego wants to be the leader. Humility, on the other hand, aspires to add value and make a difference, regardless of position.”
So true and such valuable wisdom. I am so grateful to the wise sergeant, my “most noble person available,” who taught me this lesson nearly 40 years ago. It is one that has to be learned by each succeeding generation.
So many times when I teach new or aspiring police supervisors, these ideas about being a good follower meet with skepticism or near-hostility, as though it is simply an older generation telling a younger one to “wait your turn” or “pay your dues.” I preach the lifelong habit of being useful and working to “add value and make a difference,” and find them to be indispensable building blocks of a successful career -and a good life.
Thanks Jim. There’s an eloquence to your comment that makes me want to rise up.
Thanks for your wisdom Jim.
Whenever I teach about leadership I undoubtedly get ask the question, “how can a leader be a good follower?” One of the best answers I ever received on the question was, it’s my job as a follower to find the gaps in my leader’s competencies and try to fill them. In doing so the whole organization becomes stronger. It takes a good dose of humility because all the time you have to remember it’s not about you.
Admittedly, I am not a good follower for a weak leader. I recongnize and am working hard to submit.
Love the post!
Thanks Ken. Follow those who have experience and competence you don’t have, even if you have a title and they don’t.
The follower role is one of the great challenges of leadership. I’m with you, I keep learning it, slowly.
This has found a spot for me. Amazing advice. As I continue my journey of discovery I can see this as one of the most important pieces for me, not that I crave leadership but rather folower’ship’ could be so powerful. Finding the right leader will be the key.
Thanks coach – I love these aha moments.
Thanks Perspect. You have my respect for your candor and transparency.
Hi Dan, when I start to follow my top manager I have observed good progress in terms of tuning but after one year I also found there is a huge gap with him because of corporate internal politics. Also found some nonsense as he is trying to implement his mind set over me as well other line manager like me. When I try to go in deep found he always try to save him only although I learned a lot about so called corporate culture from him to with stand here.
Now I try to balance the thing in professional way. I think your last comment is helpful for me. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Share. Your insights are so helpful. People are human. They may have something great to offer in one area and fall down in another. I think learning to navigate our own expectations and the humanity of those around us is an important part of this journey.
After “sleeping on” this post, another idea came to mind. There is a variously-attributed proverb that says, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” This is closely aligned with the mindset of being ready to follow. When we embrace the idea of followership, we can truly open ourselves to learning from others, whether or not they are our “teachers” in the formal sense.
Unfortunately there are those organizations and cultures that encourage and even reward the aggressive rat race competition for status and leadership position, but usually this proves to be an unsustainable lose-lose proposition in the long run.
Dan I often tell young people that you need to Fail at something in your life before you will grow as a person let alone a leader. But it can be a significant personal failure, like an unexpected divorce, not just a business failure that can lead to Humility and make one more tolerant and able to deal with others.
Great post!
Brad
Brad James
Dan, excellent commentary on followship.
Schools and others have done a wonderful job of convincing many poor followers that are great leaders. Keep following until you find that you have followers following you. Achieving a leadership position before you are ready can be a powerful failure. Learn to fly before you sit in the cockpit.
So valuable. Again! You are always the positive voice in my head that keeps me on track. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Great insights. Great leader. I’m humbly following. ❤
We need posters of these quotes.