Leader? Follower? Can You Be Both?
I woke up this morning with a question in my mind: what’s the difference between a leader and a follower? Which quickly led to another question: can you be both a leader and a follower? For me, this blog provides a place for me to explore a bit and so, I’m going to see if I can’t sift through my thoughts to arrive at answers to these questions.
What’s the difference between a leader and a follower? As I hold this question and mull it over, it strikes as pivotal in some respects. What I know for sure is that being a leader is about so much more than holding a specific title. You certainly might be a leader by virtue of the fact that you’re a CEO, founder, president, chairperson, etc;. But the title’s not enough. Leadership is about vision, it’s about risk-taking, it’s about showing up and standing up and playing the game even when others are dropping out. Leaders are required to take a stand and invite others to stand alongside. Leaders have to be willing to get it wrong, in order to get it right (whatever “it” might be). In other words, a true leader cannot wait for the perfect idea at the perfect moment. True leaders put themselves out there when things are less than perfect, knowing that as they move forward, step-by-step, perfection will be attained.
Followers, on the other hand, don’t need to hold a vision, they need only subscribe to another person’s vision. Followers don’t need to risk taking the first step; instead they can follow in the footsteps of another. Followers can pull out of the game for a bit, take a breath, and then dive back in when they’re ready. All of this might make it sound like followers have got it far easier than leaders. And I think that this is a bit of a misnomer. Why? Because as a follower, you’ve actually got to exercise a bit of gumption. You’ve got to use your wits and ascertain whether the vision you’re subscribing to is subscription-worthy. As a follower, your role is to lend support to your leaders, and so you’ve got to know what support is required of you in every moment. You’ve got to be able to “read the play” so-to-speak. The role of follower is no less difficult than the role of leader; it’s just different.
So, can someone be both a leader and a follower? As I ask this question, a vision of flying geese comes to mind. What I remember about geese flying in formation is that they absolutely always have a designated leader. They also, however, have a system whereby, when the leader gets tired, the leader “steps back” and another goose takes the position of leader. So now, the follower is the leader, and the leader follows for a bit. In other words, while there is a definite leader and follower role to be held, when it comes right down to it which goose is the leader or follower isn’t nearly as important as all of the geese realizing that they’re on the same team, playing the same game, moving towards the same objective.
Bottom-line: every team needs a leader, and every team needs followers to support the leader’s objectives. More importantly, however, every team member — whether they are leader or follower — has to realize that the overriding fact is that they’re a team. The entity of team trumps the individual roles — at least when the team is all on the same page. So, leaders, followers, ask yourselves: are you on the same page? And if you’re not, how are you going to get there?
Hi Gail, thanks for the food for thought this morning. My initial response was “leaders know when to follow” whereas some followers never lead. After reading now I think I would agree with your comments as well. I do wonder though if leaders have more endurance and aren’t afraid to stand up for their strengths.
That being said, I don’t think “leader” is a title or mindset that we wear all the time. Maybe more of us should. When our strengths are apparent, and leveraged, we immediately nudge ahead of the pack. Does that automatically make us a leader? Probably in that particular field however it may not in an overall sense (hence the followers who step up every now and then).
Leadership is a conscious decision. And so is following. In my estimation we can only ever lead ourselves anyway; who follows is entirely up to them.
Jennifer
Thanks for your feedback Jennifer — much appreciated. I agree with your bottom-line — when it comes right down to it, whether or not you lead or follow needs to be a conscious choice. Otherwise you’re not really doing either. You’re sort of just bopping along. I think there’s a tendency in our society to value leadership more than following — what I’m realizing, however, is that there’s both a need and a place for both. And consciously choosing which role you’ll assume is powerful. And true leaders, know when to follow. Obviously, my train of thought on this one continues to plow ahead