You hear a lot of commentary about a lack of leadership, but hardly any about the other side of leadership, “followership.”
You can’t have good leaders without good followers. But there has developed a kind of a stigma around followership skills.
I don’t know when that started. It seems like it has crept up on us and eroded interest in being a good follower. I’m thinking we expect everyone to be a leader, and we’re missing the point that leadership takes knowing how to be a follower first. People who are successful in leadership positions usually have proven that they know how to follow and function effectively in a group. If you consistently show that you are a skilled follower, you may find yourself on the executive team earlier than you expected.
Being a good follower takes a collection of skills. We are almost at the point of scoffing at those skills. Do you honestly want to hear from your child’s teacher that he or she is a good follower?
Yet in life we’re so often called upon to do just that: do a good job of following. I don’t think there are any courses in business schools that teach these skills. Following well isn’t taught and isn’t rewarded. But it is essential. Maybe the lack of attention to following is wrapped up with our “everyone gets a trophy” mentality, which arose out of a misguided fixation on self esteem. I don’t know.
John McCallum, a professor of finance at the I. H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, has written about followership, which he calls the flip side of leadership. He explains how much followership matters, describing these problems that are tied to weak followership: distraction from goals, unsatisfied customers, high costs, product quality issues – and more. Members of corporate boards often get rid of those at the top with no examination of the relationship between that leader and those who are paid to be his or her followers.
McCallum identifies several qualities of good followers. First, judgment. He states that followers must take direction – and must know the difference between a strategic directive that is in keeping with the organizational or team goals, and one that is not. It is critical to exercise that judgment and communicate directly with the leader if directives are unclear or off base somehow.
A second quality is work ethic. Good followers are “diligent, motivated, committed, pay attention to detail and help create an environment that permits these qualities.”
The third quality described by McCallum is competence. It is the responsibility of the leaders to make sure that followers are competent and have the skills to do the tasks at hand. Blaming followers for lacking those skills is a sign of poor leadership, according to McCallum.
Next is honesty. Good leaders welcome feedback. We all want to exhibit respect and polite behavior, but that doesn’t mean we sit by while an inept leader drives the proverbial bus over the cliff. A good relationship between leader and follower has to be built on the truth.
Sixth is the quality of discretion – which means keeping your mouth shut. Everyone in the organization has a duty to talk appropriately about work matters. And you know anything else just makes the employee look bad and powerless. Discretion needs to come back into style.
McCallum’s next quality is loyalty, loyalty first and foremost to the organization, along with a strong commitment to the mission of the organization.
Then, ego management. Overall performance will decline if we allow ego to creep into everything that goes on during the work day. Performance will decline and we won’t have much fun at work if we are guarding our egos, listening for nuances in conversations, pouting and complaining to our friends about credit we didn’t receive or how someone else is being treated better.
Think about becoming a better follower. If you’re in a position where you feel obligated to follow a leader whose values are directly opposed to yours, forget all of McCallum’s advice and run for your life. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and consider honing the qualities he describes.
Jo Gorissen is a certified transition coach and a former Milwaukee area resident. Her website is www.coachingconbrio.com and she can be reached at (414) 305-3459.
