Focus on Followers

Everyone can agree leadership is important. I'd also chance that most people would rather be a leader than a follower... but why? Why is there a stigma about being a follower? Realistically, everyone will be a follower for far more of their life than they will be a leader. Everyone answers to someone else. We all follow before we lead.

In traditional leadership theories, followers are often seen as the blank slates, just receiving the influence and direction given to us by leaders. Sometimes these theories take into account that leaders need to adapt to followers… but more often followers aren’t given much thought.

Some more recent leadership theories have begun to focus on followers. A leader is only a leader if someone follows them, otherwise they’re just a person with an idea.

Leaders need followers.

Followers create leadership. In general, if followers don’t like someone, if they don’t agree with someone, they aren’t going to follow them. (There are of course exceptions where there are followers who follow unquestioningly, or those who lead through fear and coercion.)

So what? We’re all followers, it’s not possible to be a leader all the time… and even if it were possible, are you always the right leader all the time? No one person is going to be the best person for the job.

I would suggest that instead of thinking of leadership as the right person to lead, we should be think about who is the best person to lead us at this moment. Who is the best person to lead us through this task, problem, or time? We should lead when we are the best person for the job, we should follow when there is someone else better suited for the job. You don’t have to be one of the other, you can be, and should be, both.

Now what?

We need to recognize that we can’t always be a leader. There is nothing shameful in following. When you’re the best person for the job, lead. When someone else is the best person, be a leader and encourage them to step up. There is value in following. And there is tremendous value in helping others become leaders, encouraging them to take on new challenges.  

No one can be a leader all the time.