Monday Motivation

I am writing this week's newsletter from Marina Del Ray, California, overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. I am not here to train others, but rather receive training myself. I am excited to "sharpen my saw" as a speaker, trainer and coach by allowing someone else to lead me. In other words, for three days I need to be a great follower. I speak, train and write on the topic of leadership so why do I need to be a great follower? Read below for three reasons why... along with ways to sharpen your "follower" saw.

Great following!

Diane

P.S.  Please share your thoughts about this email or send future topic ideas to diane@dianeamundson.com  

In last week's newsletter I wrote four reasons for taking the following versus leading role.  I also mentioned that the leader and follower need to complement each other versus compete with each other. I thought I would recap the reasons why we need to become great followers:

• Without followers there are no leaders
• We hope, wish and pray for great followers when we are leading so we need to experience and become what we are looking for
• It gives us the opportunity to watch other styles of leadership and feel the joy and pain of following good and poor leaders

So, what are the characteristics of a great follower?

• They are a great listener that cares enough to ask clarifying questions. Many times a great leader will forget details or think they have explained something well. A great follower will help the leader by getting clear on direction, expectations, roles and responsibilities.

• They see the leader as a partner. I am not asking you to assume the leader or your boss are on the same authority level but I do believe that a great follower wants the leader to succeed and will offer ideas, tools and resources to reach the agreed upon goals. A great follower does not take a competitive stance hoping the leader will fail so the follower looks stronger.

• Any issues or concerns with the leader should be shared in private so as to not embarrass them or undermine their authority. Offer to be another set of eyes and ears for the leader and resist complaining to others about them without finding a way to share your frustrations first with the leader.

• Praise the leader in front of others. While some of you may be thinking that this is a form of "brown-nosing", it really does help the leader continue doing what is going what you find effective. Leadership can be a lonely role and the more specific your praise of the leader, the more energy or motivation the leader gives to sustaining that behavior.

• Do what you say you are going to do! We have all worked with team members or co-workers that over promise and under deliver. Don't be one of those.... Instead try under promising and over delivering to build trust on the team.

Question for You:

Are you a great follower? Do you find yourself wanting to take the leadership role when you should be following?

Action for You:

Know that soon you will be leading another group or project and you will want followers that listen, follow through on their promises, give you private critical feedback when warranted and praise you when you are doing well. In other words you will want a partner in helping you reach the goals set forth by you and your team. By following the steps above you will demonstrate to your leader the helpful behaviors that you will wish for when leading others.