1998 – On an army assault course in the UK – why I was there is a long story – I heard a recruit proclaim,
“In this life there are leaders and there are followers. I am a leader.”
At the time there was something bold about his speech, he definitely got everyone’s attention. For him, a leader was the strongest, bravest, fastest and above all a winner. This kind of leader has ‘the goods’ and everyone else just needs to follow!? But also, it was noticeable (and slightly awkward) that those sitting around him had been clearly positioned as followers.
Followers. There’s a hint of worship here. Followers are only good for following, have less worth and don’t have the character to lead. They should look to their leader for guidance and salvation. Wow, that’s a real rabbit hole of [blank].
Overwhelmingly and thankfully, most organisations have moved on from this type of thinking and for good reason too. When we look at innovation for example, it happens when ‘ideas bump’ and that only happens when people share ideas. Any model where followers just ‘shut-up and do as commanded’ immediately stifles the creativity needed to innovate, and that’s a huge loss to any organisation.
There are much better concepts of leadership that are well worth investing in and forming culture around.
Quiet Leadership: A leader doesn’t need to have all the solutions and have the loudest voice. Instead a quiet leader knows how to engage, listen and draw on other people’s strengths to collaboratively form much better solutions. This Quiet Leadership approach is underpinned by Coaching-style leadership. (See David Rock’s book ‘Quiet Leadership’ on the subject)
Untitled Leadership: This is where we remove leadership as being exclusively titled-bound and instead see that anyone can ‘lead from where they are’. It doesn’t mean we don’t have titled leaders, it just means there is room and permission for people to step-up – in the moment – and lead when there’s a need that they can meet or problem they can solve because they have the right skill set or motivation to do so.
Project-based Leadership: Selecting people to take the lead on projects or tasks because of their strengths and potential. This is about ability, not titled positioning within the organisation. It’s also a great way to provide opportunities to develop someone’s capability.
Insight & Action
My message here is simple, check the beliefs around what a leader is and isn’t within your organisation.
If we subscribe to a fixed philosophy of leadership, then we’re limiting the potential of those people we see as just followers. But what if we consider that different occasions might require different leaders?
Questions we can ask:
- Quiet Leadership: What can we create as a team that we can’t create as individuals?
- Untitled Leadership: What will it take to create a culture where stepping-up isn’t restricted by hierarchy?
- Strength-based Leadership: What are our challenges and who has the skills and drive to meet them?
I hope you’ve found this article useful. As always, stay in touch and let me know if you have a question.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash