Monthly Archive for December, 2008

We often hear that a leader’s job in a crisis is to keep the environment calm enough so that people can get their work done. Followers also have this responsibility—to be productive and supportive while a path is charted through the crisis. Often, events unfold too rapidly for a leader and followers to fully consult [...]

No matter how healthy the relationship between a leader and followers, it is not a substitute for a leader’s relationships with peers. Even in a relaxed leader-follower relationship there is always some tendency to maintain a little distance, a distinction in roles. We need to be alert to a leader who lacks peer relationships and [...]

There is a danger that the very success of the leader-follower relationship may weaken a leader. Leaders who become comfortable with their closest followers may begin to rely only on them for information, counsel, and feedback. Insularity occurs, and both leader and followers lose perspective and freshness of ideas; the team grows stale. If we [...]

Followers can experience enormous psychological pressure to look good around a leader and provide answers to questions “off the cuff.” Our culture values the expert who can spout off opinions more than the sage who contemplates. Courageous followers regard the act of advising as a trust. They differentiate between what they know factually, what they [...]

Even the most creative leaders appreciate it when others present them with options for handling situations. The options followers generate often circumscribe the range of actions a leader contemplates. The quality of those options makes a huge difference to the success of an organization. Neither we nor our leaders should settle for good ideas on [...]

A creative leader is a fount of ideas. This is of great value to an organization. But if followers attempt to indiscriminately implement all of a prolific leader’s ideas, focus will be lost and the leader and organization may become exhausted. If the leader’s ideas completely fill the group’s agenda there will be no room [...]

In many activities, an organization’s supporters and adversaries form their opinion of the organization from the perception they have of its leaders. If the leader has an image that commands attention and respect, the organization is in a stronger position to achieve its purpose. An effective organization does not wait for those outside the organization [...]

When we are a close aide to a leader, our acts are often perceived as extensions of the leader’s values and intentions. In organizations in which the leader is focused on strategic and external priorities, we may become the primary contact point for the rest of the organization and exert great influence on it. Intentionally [...]

There is often such deference paid to authority that the slightest comment made by a leader is taken literally. Leaders can be mortified to find an off-the-cuff comment they made was construed to be “policy,” a one-time solution to a unique situation was interpreted as a change in standard procedure, or an angry reaction was [...]

It is easy for people inside or outside of the organization to target a leader because the leader is visible and represents the organization and its authority. Sometimes there is a lot of behind-the-back complaining about a leader. While the complaints may be legitimate, this form of addressing them is not. It creates an atmosphere [...]

Great leaders face great challenges. They often encounter relentless opposition while seeking a path that will achieve their organization’s purpose. Read the biographies of Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., or Ghandi and you will find years of patience-wearing struggle and setbacks. Many less famous leaders also labor for years or decades before they see [...]

Followers who control the access of other followers to a leader have the responsibility to use this power fairly. The power of proximity to power is itself intoxicating and can inflate egos. Gatekeepers need to guard against becoming arrogant and indifferent to the needs of those seeking access to the leader. If supporting a leader [...]

Obtaining the right amount of access to a leader requires striking a delicate balance. Followers must have or negotiate a certain degree of access to support a leader and perform their roles. But followers often desire more access than a leader can realistically give or than they necessarily need. We must be alert to our [...]

Appropriate organization is necessary to achieve the common purpose and to support the leader. From the most complex society right down to the individual cell, all life must organize itself. Higher life organizes itself around a vision, values, and goals. Effective followers help leaders clarify the vision and goals and develop the organization that the [...]

Leaders occupy positions of high visibility and are often buffeted by powerful forces. Internal and external pressures build and can test or distort a leader’s values and judgment. An important function of followership is minimizing unnecessary pressure that may contribute to this distortion. Courageous followers help leaders make choices about demands that push their personal [...]

I never cease to be amazed at how many decisions a good chief of staff makes for a U.S. senator without consultation. Given the hundreds of small and large requests a senator receives daily, this is an essential function. It is also the epitome of judgment in serving a leader: knowing when you can speak [...]

Sometimes an organization isn’t ready to address a deficiency or try a better way of doing things. Other needs seem more pressing. This can be frustrating to a follower who feels strongly about an issue. Throwing up our hands and giving up is not assuming responsibility. Our challenge is to find a way to test [...]

Processes are the chains of activity through which an organization fulfills its needs and the needs of the individuals and groups with which it interacts. Core processes are what permit the organization to achieve its purpose, and other processes support these. One danger in a group is that each member vaguely thinks someone else should [...]

Sometimes, it is not just rules that need to be broken but the organization’s whole mindset. The pursuit of the common purpose may be hampered by the group’s assumptions about the world. These assumptions are lenses through which the group filters information. Sometimes, the lenses also filter out important possibilities. It is a great challenge [...]

Effective followers assume responsibility for learning the rules of the system in which they operate. Rules are created as guidelines for using the group’s resources, as methods for orderly decision making, as assurances of fairness, as clarification and guarantees of expected standards. Rules are the agreements by which the group maintains its identity, expresses its [...]