Being a good follower

Everyday in my LinkedIn I see posts on being a leader. If you go to the bookstore, there is an entire section devoted to leadership. “The 5 Levels of Leadership“, “The 21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership“, “Top 100 Best Ways to be a Great Leader“…and so on. Leadership is all fine and dandy but if everyone becomes a leader, then there would be no one left to lead. Try being a good follower.

What makes a good follower? I don’t think it is just blind obedience, in fact I know it isn’t. Blind obedience makes people into sheep and that doesn’t make any organization successful.

A good follower should question their leader. Where are we heading? Why are we going this way? Are we there yet? And a good leader should be able to answer these things. If they can’t, stop and wait until they figure it out otherwise you could be going in the wrong direction.  Part of questioning the leader is to remind them to keep their eyes on the prize and to ensure that they communicate it to the team.  Sometimes the vision changes, those need to be communicated otherwise some follower could be headed in the wrong direction.  A good follower needs to support a leader when headed in the right direction and question when they think it is a mistake.

As a good follower you need to be able to accept new ideas, or approaches and be prepared to cooperate.  Leadership requires more than one person, you cannot be a leader or a follower without someone else so your ideas will not always be chosen.  You need to be able to accept that with good graces. It’s not always easy though, especially if the reasons for the decision are not adequately communicated.

While on that topic, you must communicate when something isn’t working, or isn’t understood.  You must communicate when you need help.  The leader cannot be expected to read minds, or monitor everyone especially if that leader has lots of people under them.

A good follower should trust their leader. I am thinking of my manager in particular. He and I have worked together for almost 10 years at 3 different companies. Where he goes, I follow. I trust that he is making decisions that not only benefit himself but our entire team. I trust he has a vision and can share that with me (in fact that is essential – No vision = Why the fuck are we here?).  I trust that he supports me and has my back. I trust that I can be open and direct, that I don’t need to mince words.

In exchange he can trust that I will do what he asks; that I will not say “no” out of hand. He can tell me what he wants to achieve, and leave me to work out the details. A good follower should be able to think for themselves, otherwise they become a burden.  If the follower understands the vision and the direction they can be proactive and anticipate the needs of the group. A good follower will expand their role to pitch in where needed. At my husbands restaurant there are some employees who will only do precisely what they are told, no more.

Through this arrangement, I have his back and support him. And as the old saying goes, “the tide raises all boats”. As he succeeds so do I and we succeed as a group.

But trust doesn’t come overnight and you cannot force it. Why would you care about your leader, if you didn’t feel they cared about you?  Why would you work to support your followers if they didn’t share your vision, or worked counter to the end goal.   That trust is built through the little things, like giving credit where it’s due or being fair and sharing rewards. The trust is built through listening and understanding.

I have had my share of bosses, and a few leaders. And only the later instill any sort of loyalty. To understand what makes a good leader, try being a good follower.