Leaders: Know Your Followers

Source: AICPA CPA Insider

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Justin Locke.

When I was a professional orchestral musician, my job wasn't to lead, but to follow.

Because I was a professional “follower” for so long, I have some insider information to share. Here are three primary elements of the “emotional genome” of your followers:

1. Followers love to be led.

There is a tendency to assume that no one wants to be bossed around, obedient, or have lower rank or social standing. This is all true, but this is resistance to disrespect, not to being led. Being led equates to being part of the group. Membership in a group that is following a leader creates a delicious sense of belonging.

2. Followers like a balance of structure and freedom.

Structure: The amount of structure you have to provide varies with your followers. Structure includes defining both the goal and the limitations that must be observed in meeting it. The better your structure, the more fun the followers have.

Freedom: Giving freedom to any kind of follower is a lot harder than giving structure because freedom is a trust issue. Without trust, you will automatically default to controlling instead of leading, and this usually gets the worst possible result, such as complete follower disengagement and passivity.

3. Followers are generally trying to give you what they think you want.

If your followers are not performing as you would like, it is easy to assume that they are lazy, unmotivated, incompetent, or they just have it in for you. Instead of falling into this common presumption, ask what you are doing as a leader that is causing the bad result or failure. The followers are usually just magnifying your energy, good or bad.

For the complete article, read “The flip side of leadership.”

From AICPA CPA Insider, June 4, 2012, www.CPA2biz.com.