All Great Leaders were First Great Followers

Note: The picture above was taken at the Atlanta Business RadioX studio and HQ on 2/23/2017. Ria and I consider Jimmy Collins, Retired (33 yrs) President & COO of Chick-fil-A, a personal friend and mentor. Click here to listen to Jimmy sharing his wisdom on the principles he shares in his book, Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness.

Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness

A person with the gift of leadership and a broad sphere of influence casts a great shadow. ~ Jimmy Collins

On June 18, 2015, my wife, Ria, and I had the privilege to share a private two hour breakfast with Jimmy Collins and began our friendship. Jimmy retired from Chick-fil-A in 2001 as President and Chief Operations Officer with nearly 33 years of service. He spent those 33 years following S. Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A Founder. Jimmy was there to support Truett with the design of the very first Chick-fil-A. With the support of many more followers, this dynamic leader-follower team created the foundation of what was a $6 billion organization in 2015.

To excel in leadership, you must first master followership. ~ S. Truett Cathy

I had already read his book, Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness, before our meeting and loved his message. In it, Jimmy offers a rarely showcased perspective revealing 35 followership principles that, if applied, will allow us to become highly effective followers. No doubt, Jimmy knows how to follow a leader to the top.

After our meeting, I received Jimmy's permission to write this blog. My goal is to add value and serve him. There's not a lot I can do for Jimmy Collins, but I can do this. If you would like to help me, please click share when you're done. Thanks for allowing me to shine the light on your message Jimmy!

I'm going to share a few quotes from Jimmy that I took directly from his book followed by some of my thoughts. My hope is that you will purchase the book and become a better follower and help those around you do the same.

The stronger the leader, the stronger and smarter the follower must be to successfully support and execute the necessary tasks. ~ Jimmy Collins

Who we are is who we attract. If the leader is highly effective with equally high expectations, the follower must possess similar character traits or the relationship will be short lived. When following, our competencies will often be very different from the leader. This allows our strengths to offset the leader's weakness. But when it comes to character, we must always be in alignment.

A trusted and established follower shares the reputation of the leader, as well as much of the leaders influence. ~ Jimmy Collins

A supportive follower realizes they are there to not only share the leader's reputation, but also to uphold and strengthen the leader's reputation. Followers should always serve as an extension of the leader. Leaders should intentionally share their influence with followers in an effort to help them accomplish the mission. When a leader shares their influence with others, their influence is not diminished. It is multiplied.

With influence comes a great deal of responsibility. ~ Jimmy Collins

When we are borrowing influence from a leader, we are responsible for using it with the highest integrity. As we demonstrate the ability to use the influence to move the organization forward in a positive and productive way, we will be loaned more and more influence. The key to gaining more influence is to proactively accept responsibility by doing things better than expected, before they are expected, and by doing more than is expected.

Followers choose to follow a leader with a compelling purpose, vision, cause, or goal, the unifying purpose. It is the leader's unifying purpose that attracts the interest and loyalty of followers. The leader is someone who is able to communicate unifying purpose in a manner that is inspiring, persuasive, or motivating. The unifying purpose joins the followers to the leader. ~ Jimmy Collins

The quality of the leader will always determine the quality of the follower. Poor leaders will attract poor followers. High impact leaders will attract high impact followers. If the leader is unhappy with the followers they are attracting, the source of their problem can always be found in the mirror.

I direct my message of Creative Followership to an audience ranging from young adults to middle aged folks. I want to capture their attention and be sure I get the information into their minds and see that it stays there. To do that, I try to package my main points in simple true stories, primarily from my own experience. ~ Jimmy Collins

DON'T MISS JIMMY SHARING HIS STORIES: Click here to listen to Jimmy sharing his wisdom on the principles he shares in his book, Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness.

FREE downloads available:

Click here now for a FREE download of the entire leadership principle-packed Chapter 11, "Get Out of the Way and Lead" from the first book in my Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. In this nearly 20 page chapter, I share about:

• Managing vs Leading
• Scarcity vs Abundance
• Formal Authority vs Moral Authority
• The 5 Types of Leaders
• Compare/Contrast 17 Manager vs Leader Perspectives

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of “Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

• 1: I’m one of you.
• 2: I believe in you.
• 3: You’re in the perfect place.
• 4: Common sense is never enough.
• 5: There is an “I” in Team.

Note: I encourage you to be a river, not a reservoir. Please share my blogs with others if you find value in them. I believe in abundance and write them to help others become more effective, successful, and significant.

Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a  High Impact !