Leaders Who Follow

Allison, my six-year old daughter, recently told me that she has come to realize that there are distractions in her life.  Specifically, the lullabies she enjoys as she drifts off to sleep are keeping her awake.  I learned from my daughter to pay attention to the details, to recognize distractions and to do something to remove them.  I am following Allison’s example of simplification to improve my abilities with the things I choose to do.No one can claim to know everything.  Effective leaders learn when to lead and, importantly, when to follow.  When we follow, we learn.  When we learn, we advance. As we advance, we become better leaders.  Therefore leaders must follow to become better leaders.

The difficulty with this concept comes with our notion of ourselves.  Sometimes we believe that to effectively lead we must have all the answers.  We are concerned that if we say, “I don’t know” we loose credibility and therefore our status as the leader.  Interestingly the opposite is true.  True leadership comes when one orchestrates involvement from many people in all walks of life.  Learning is an essential part of every day.  Those who embrace learning also know to follow.  When we follow we do many things:

• acknowledge the contributions of others
• increase the leader’s confidence
• signal the importance of diversity of thought
• share ownership of efforts
• learn and grow

It is easy to derive fulfillment when one works hard and accomplishes a goal.  It is far more fulfilling to be a part of something bigger than one’s own efforts, to see the unity of thought of many people and to be a follower in a crowd where the vision and efforts are jointly owned.

Marilyn vos Savant is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest recorded Intelligence Quotient (I.Q. of 228).  Vos Savant explains the difference between knowledge and wisdom in this way, “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe”.  To observe, one must find someone to follow for a time.

I challenge us each to find an opportunity to follow, not just for an hour, but for a topic or a project.  Use the time to observe and practices skills in being a part of something bigger than you and derive fulfillment as a follower.

What examples do you have of following… to learn how to lead?