Lean Forward - Blog - Followership: The Object of Leadership

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Welcome to the LeanForward, Inc. blog, which I’ve titled LeadingForward.

There is no doubt that the subject of leadership has been extensively addressed and that good research and thoughtful writing abound. The trouble, from my perspective, is that we still see far too many examples of irresponsible, unprincipled and ineffective leadership that have had a devastating impact on people and organizations. I want to be part of a movement that changes this reality and creates a core of leaders whose first priority is to serve those they lead and create positive results for all stakeholders.

In August of 2008, I left a decade of employment with Duke University to start my own company, LeanForward, Inc. I’ll wait for another day to discuss the wisdom of walking away from a secure job with a good income in the middle of a global crisis to begin a new venture. For now, just call it a leap of faith. For me, it has been a leap into a huge gap or void; not so much into an unknown and uncertain business climate, but rather into a vacuum created by a lack of principle-based leadership. This vacuum draws me – it compels me—to do something, anything, to help restore the faith people once had in leaders and redeem the hope and trust that have been lost.

The opportunity to work for an organization of the caliber of Duke (and several other good organizations over my career) provided me with a living laboratory for learning about leadership – i.e., what works and what doesn’t work in the real world. As an executive leader in human resources, I’ve had successes and my fair share of failures. I’ve tried to learn from all of these personal experiences, as well as the experiences of others. In fact, I’m still learning. The opportunity I have now is to work outside the confines of a particular organization in an effort to improve the practice of leadership across multiple organizations and industries. One way I can do this is by promoting the practice of “thought leadership.” I believe a good thought leader is someone who is a well-intentioned yet persistent provocateur and revolutionary. Provocateurs challenge embedded mental models – the cognitive shorthand we use each day to evaluate, define and respond to people and situations. Mental models need to be challenged when they keep us from being open to new ideas or inhibit our willingness to examine our conclusions about what is true. Revolutionaries challenge established practices, structures and authority. Practices, structures and authority need to be challenged when they fail to meet the legitimate needs and interests of people and organizations.

My personal mission is to play a part in helping to close the gap and fill the void created by poor leadership, and the systems and thinking that enable it. I hope this forum, and others like it, create a thoughtful, open and practical exchange of provocative, revolutionary and energizing ideas for building strong relationships and accomplishing superior results. I encourage you to join me in this effort. Your comments, suggestions and perspectives are always welcome. You may email at mark.rumbles@leanforwardinc.com.

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Wednesday

Apr082009

Followership: The Object of Leadership

Wed, April 8, 2009

What makes a great leader? How do we distill leadership to its essence? To me, the logical place to start is to examine followership. Followership is not the opposite of leadership; rather it is the object of it. Think about love. To understand its essence, you need to understand the object of love – God, family, country, friends, chocolate, etc. Leadership also requires an object, namely followers. Assuming you buy into the idea of free will, being a follower is a volitional act. All followers essentially are volunteers, even when being paid as employees of an organization. Therefore, it comes down to this: leaders are defined by those who choose to follow.

Who is with me?

The implications of this conclusion are clear and sobering. While the positional authority a leader is given is important, it is the voluntary responses of each follower that matter most. If you hold a leadership role, and truly believe you are a leader, I encourage you to look behind you and beside you. If no one is following, or no one is walking with you, you are not leading anything or anyone. You are a leader on paper, or in your own mind, but not in the hearts and heads of would be followers.

To be a great leader then, one has to have a deep understanding and appreciation of the motivations, needs, interests and values of followers. Another word for this is empathy, a vital component of what is known as emotional intelligence, which we’ll explore in future posts. In addition to empathy, it helps when leaders keep in perspective that they too are followers. Leaders can gain more appreciation for others by taking an introspective and honest look within themselves. A leader, who doesn’t start here, that is, with a healthy dose of self-awareness and honest reflection, is destined to go nowhere and will arrive there alone.

Mark Rumbles, President |

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