Why would people want to follow you?

I was invited by Blue Business Media to speak at the II Shared Service (in) Center conference in mid-April. The key issue was the question, "Will people be there when you turn around?". To strengthen its significance I allowed myself to build the question in a somewhat stronger way, as shown in the title above.

As I have mentioned on many occasions, I have quite a skeptical attitude towards motivational speeches. To be frank, I question their effectiveness in any other capacity than short-term entertainment for the audience and pursuit of fame and money of the speakers themselves. Reluctant to have "my army friends" laughing at my (apparent) inconsistency, I decided to do it my own way. The last thing people need is yet another speech that goes "You have to be like this if you want people to love you and follow you.” We already have them in abundance. All the supposed must-have features of leaders make up one very long list. Moreover, it's absolutely impossible to combine them in a single person; even a mutant wouldn't handle it. And I happen to know a lot about mutants, because I fight them passionately in the virtual world (computer games, not LinkedIn).

So, I decided to carefully look into it and distinguish the key reasons why people follow existing and recognizable leaders. In short, instead of theoretically postulating what it should be like, I decided to see what it really looks like. And that is something very specific and tangible, something we can match with ourselves. I have identified 7 reasons.

Side note - at the end of the article I provide a short exercise that can confuse you for a moment or two... And this is exactly the added value that I wanted to deliver to conference participants instead of a motivational mumbo jumbo. It’s a simple tool to reflect on the essence of your own leadership skills.

1) Because you have more on shoulder marks

In Polish, this colloquial phrase about the rank of your shoulder marks simply indicates that you are formally in charge. People follow you because you tell them to go and they cannot say no, in most cases. Practically every manager meets this condition, from the lowest to the CEO. This is nothing but leadership by appointment.

On one hand, in the long run, it is a necessary condition. In a separated crisis situation, you can "take charge" by yourself. However, in order to take long-term actions, the condition of formal authority must be met. Especially in big structures.

The question is whether it is sufficient to achieve great goals. The situation is even worse if it is the only reason why people follow you.

2) Because you have a vision (of the company/product/service)

Let me use two examples here, both of which are quite well known (too well maybe...), hence their usefulness. The first is Steve Jobs. Think about what words first come to your mind when thinking about Jobs. A "visionary" will most likely be one of them. Much has been written about his numerous talents and weaknesses and also about his not-so-teal style of management. At the end of the day, however, Apple was and is perceived as an attractive workplace and space for development. Why? All because of Steve Jobs' vision what the company should be like and how their completely new products have changed the world. It has inspired and will continue to inspire a great many people. And what complaints are being made towards Apple today? Well, its vision is diminishing; it is too focused on the evolutionary improvement of existing products, instead of creating new ones.

The second example is Elon Musk. What makes investors still believe in him, despite the fact that Tesla is dramatically unprofitable and on the verge of a catastrophe, and SpaceX lives on NASA money and state funding? Well, the ability to create a vision. A vision in which Tesla is setting new trends and leading the world into new areas, into a new lifestyle. This vision attracts engineers in particular, because there are some really interesting things going on there, from the technical point of view. Although it may soon be a business catastrophe, the vision itself is still attracting enough people.

3) Because you're a winner

In the long run, this is a vital condition. So what if you have many desirable character traits that guidebooks and textbooks are full of if you're simply unsuccessful in the real world? What's worse, it does not matter whether you are the cause of the failures, or if it was pure coincidence or bad luck. Odium falls onto you. You either deliver or not. Tertium non datur. Napoleon himself said he did not need unlucky generals. If you do not win, people will follow someone who does. It's an old truth - success attracts people.

Examples? Steve Jobs also met this condition. Elon Musk used to (PayPal), but now he is again working towards either greatness or oblivion. Another example is Warren Buffett - long-term, multiplied, repeatable successes. Because of that he has become a lighthouse in business and has an undisputed authority.

Another (and really different) example is Jeff Bezos. Why "really different"? He has been a huge success, repeatedly over the years; you almost cannot see the end of his invasion. People are in, Jeff Bezos himself is praised everywhere, despite the disturbing information about working conditions at Amazon from so many sources. This does not prevent the founder from being considered a star. Even the "teal believers" fail to attack him. Let me repeat - success attracts people.

4) Because you're the smartest in the room

By that I mean meritocracy. You are the one who has the widest professional knowledge. It makes people recognise you as a leader. This is especially true in specialised departments, such as technical or financial. Specialists are ready to recognise the leadership of the one who knows the most in their field of specialisation.

Here the example can be companies founded by professors. They have the most knowledge; they are often the authors of the developed technology. Very often, along with the development and growth of the company, the sheer advantage of specialist knowledge is no longer sufficient. It manifests itself, among others, in a frequently asked question, should a hospital be run by a professor? On one hand, being an outstanding doctor is not enough to manage a full life of a hospital. On the other, it is difficult for a non-doctor or someone with inferior achievements to gain authority from his subordinates, regardless of his organisational talents.

5) Because you are an ethical authority

I will only mention three names and everything will be clear: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. We could do the same experiment as before with Steve Jobs and see what first associations come to mind when we hear these names. The ethical dimension of these characters would certainly be in the lead. They also inspire with the number 2 cause - the vision. The element of the world ruled according to ethical guidelines was the key aspect of their message.

I've been wondering which commonly known names in business are mainly associated with the ethical dimension and... I have failed. The highest rank, the vision, the victory record, the knowledge; no difficulty of finding examples here. The ethical dimension as a leading element was difficult, however. Let me come back to Warren Buffett, who advocates honesty and integrity in business and regularly shares his valuable thoughts in this area.

6) Because you have social competences

The ability to listen actively (the kind that really allows you to hear), empathy, control over emotions (resulting from self-reflection), healthy modesty. Undoubtedly, these elements facilitate being recognised as a leader and make people follow you. Whether we call it participative leadership, service leadership, or whatever else is less important. It is significant that the role of these elements is increasingly emphasised. Especially in those markets that can be considered stable and increasingly wealthy. That is, those markets where the employee has a good choice of place and nature of work, where the mere fact that he is offered a job is not enough to keep him longer and get him involved.

Examples of business icons? Hmm... I'd rather rely here on the readers' suggestions. Initially, Sir Richard Branson came to mind, but after thinking about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that what I know about him is... only what he says himself, in a carefully prepared and consistently offered PR program. And that's not enough.

7) Because you're a team player and allow room for development for others

The thing is to be a leader, who does not need to be a star himself. He is good at developing others into stars and managing them. What's more, he does it well and consistently enough that people are attracted to him, seeing this as a chance for their development under his leadership.

Examples? First of all, I come up with those from the world of sport, because there are plenty of them here. For instance, Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger or other coaches, who could build fantastic teams and drive little-known players into stardom. Does anyone, besides the diehard fans, know the name of the head coach of the Iceland national football team and its main players? Exactly. And this is the team that reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 European championship and qualified for the 2018 World Cup. Boys "out of nowhere" stormed into the royalty of the football world.

Can you combine several of the above seven reasons? Of course, this is even highly advisable. The boundaries between them are not sharp. It's not mathematics. All the above-mentioned leaders combine some of them, although in different proportions and combinations. Possibly only the Titans could combine all seven of the reasons. The mythological Titans, of course, not people, all the more so as the power of the individual reasons is different. Let me remind you - what good is the brightest visionary in our room, with great social competence, if... he's losing. People can be inspired once or twice, but if ventures fall so do their people.

The Exercise 

Now it's time for the short exercise mentioned earlier. Ask yourself four simple questions in the following order:

1) Which of the following reasons can be related to you?

- make a list of all seven and mark yours; people follow me because...

2) And how do you know that?

- how have you verified the answer to the first question? If it is only your personal opinion, it is of little use. Ask your environment this. If you are afraid to talk to the environment about it, then we're back to the shoulder marks...

3) Which ones would you like to be related to?

- mark in the same list

4) What are you doing to make it happen?

Well now it's time to check on your list, what's left besides the shoulder marks?