Followers change things

Entrenched in the old modern-world paradigm of leadership is the notion that it is the leaders who hold the power and followers matter far less.?In fact, in most academic literature on the subject, attention is only really given to followers in the context of how the behaviour of subordinates impacts the effectiveness of leaders.

But the truth is that the world’s great challenges will not be solved by leaders alone. Followers bring about change. But that only happens when followers buy in and voluntarily choose to act. If followers act due to coercion or obedience, there is no leadership, and arguable, no meaningful, positive and progressive change.

Leadership attracts wiling followers and is not about coercion and obedience.??

Demanding obedience is only temporarily effective. It is not sustainable because followers are free to leave, work to rule or, in extreme cases, sabotage the leader’s best efforts.

But the world is filled with forms of purported leadership that generally involves some kind of coercive leading and its handmaiden, involuntary followership.

Obviously, many of these, which we argue to be inappropriate, of limited efficacy, and unsustainable, take place all around us in everyday life and work. Frank Thompson of Lead with Humanity, describes this taking the following shapes:

1. Following for monetary reward rather than out of conviction.
2. Following out of fear of unpleasant disciplinary consequences.
3. Following out of fear of exclusion from the group.
4. Following out of ingrained habit as a designated place holder in a hierarchy or family.
5. Following because thinking and critical faculties are suspended by drugs or alcohol.
6. Following negative leadership out of sheer desperation about one’s personal circumstances.
7. Following an unreasoning mob in which one gets swept up.
8. Following out of blind faith unsupported by one’s own thought or reasoning.

There are surely others. And many may occur in combination.

Frank suggests that where genuine authentic leadership occurs - these definitions can be altered or suspended. But these cases where it does are very rare indeed in human history.

It might be worth considering the descriptors we use to characterise a true leader in light of the above examples in particular. There are obvious gaps, different in each case, that might help point the way to those who aspire to true leadership to attaining it.?

Mary Slaughter, of the NeuroLeadership Institute, says that leaders who effectively create followership share three beliefs:?

Belief 1:?I am not better than anyone else. I generate followership by treating others as though they matter more than me.?

Belief 2:?To be followed, I must be trusted. To generate followership, I intentionally work on finding common ground with my followers and building trust.

Belief 3:?I derive my power from my followers. Without them I am powerless. To generate followership, I must give power back to my followers.?

Perhaps, in the presence of leaders who hold these beliefs, followers will be driven by a far different set of reasons than the list above.

• Lead with Humanity and Frank Thompson

[1] https://neuroleadership.com/your-brain-at-work/why-followers-follow/