Leaders & Followers
Ira Chaleff wrote a book about followers, The Courageous Follower, and I love the following quote:
- All important social accomplishments require complex group effort, and therefore, leadership and followership. Both are necessary in the pursuit of a common purpose. Some believe that influence in the leader-follower relationship is largely one way. This is far from true. Followers have great capacity to influence the relationship. (p. 14)
Just look around you at work today and watch this play out. Their inspired committment or lackluster compliance can mean the difference between success and failure.
Fascinating…
March 19th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Love Chaleff’s work. Good post.
March 21st, 2010 at 11:10 am
Mr. Chaleff’s comment should be obvious to most people, especially folks in the military, but sometimes it takes someone to write an observation down in order for it to sink in. It took me several years in the Army to fully appreciate the importance of the follower in the leader-follower relationship. I reflect back on my college experience in ROTC and my years as a lieutenant and realize I was very internally focused. I worked on how to hone my specific leadership skills and how to project those, but not so much on how to read or react to how my efforts were received by others. Basically, I took the reaction for granted–easy to do in a compliance-based organization. All leaders, regardless of level of “natural skill” (an amorphous concept in itself), require time to further develop their skills through experience and socialization. I did not truly start to “get” the leader-follower relationship until I was a company commander between my seventh and eighth years of service. As a CO I became more aware of how my actions were watched and perceived by my soldiers. A few months after a particularly trying weekend, one of my non-commissioned officers told me point blank that the soldiers were watching me, as the new commander, to see how I would handle the situations. Then, I entered graduate school and started to study the life of a Civil War general. Especially after the war, he was consumed with what other people thought of his military leadership. In his opinion, what followers thought of him made or broke his reputation. Studying his experiences convinced me of the power of perception in the leader-follower relationship, and how what the follower thinks or is perceived to think can greatly influence the interaction.
There has always been a certain level of dialogue in the Army between the leaders and the led. Now, the Army is more openly embracing that dialogue. This in turn creates another challenge for leaders in terms of balancing ideas from lower echelons with the prerogatives of the chain of command. I am still trying to figure out that balance, and I know with certainty that my growth as a leader is far from over.
MAJ Brit Erslev, Student, Command and General Staff College, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Great insight! Need to check that book out. Thanks for all the great info!
April 1st, 2010 at 8:56 am
Great quote. The first few followers are extremely important. Another great quote “The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. We have a great video on our blog, that highlights the importance of the first follower. It’s funny, and tremendously insightful! Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy http://bit.ly/bWCupK