Good followers make great leaders
Dr. Adalat Khan
July 31, 2007
Behind the success of every great leader is the support, hard work and invisible struggle of many unknown people who are known as the ‘followers’. Without the support and commitment of good followers the birth of great personalities like Alexander the Great, Nelson Mandela, Umar Bin Khatab etc. and so many others would have been unimaginable.
I also believe that many leaders who could have become as great or even greater than the one mentioned here, miserably failed and did not rise because of the lousy followers they had.
Management gurus and leadership experts have written volumes on leaders and the theories of leadership. Theories such as traits theory of leadership, Transformational leadership, Charismatic leadership, and so many other theories have in greater length discussed the topic of leadership. However very little has been written about the qualities of these unknown soldiers who commit their hearts and souls to achieve their leaders goals. Almost every leader in one way or the other owes his/her success to these followers. Without their help no leader can achieve success.
I also strongly believe that no doubt we need excellent leaders to take us to the future, but we also need good followers to help these leaders realise their dreams. For them to be called good followers they need to possess certain qualities which will be mentioned in this article.
QUALITIES OF GOOD FOLLOWERS
The critical role which followers can play in the success of a leader necessitate them to have, acquire, and practice certain qualities. These qualities are:
1- UNDERSTAND, SUPPORT, AND WORK FOR THE LEADER’S VISION
Followers should understand and accurately comprehend their leader’s vision. They must also commit themselves to support that vision. One difficulty which could crop in this regard is the possibility of conflict between the followers and a leader’s vision. To plug this gap followers should align their vision with that of their leader’s. Not only that, but followers must also work very hard to achieve and realise the leader’s vision. They must own the leader’s vision and take it on themselves to make it happen.
2- HELP THE LEADER TO SUCCEED:
Followers can either be like fuel providing energy or roadblocks creating hurdles for the efforts of a leader. Good followers however help the leader to succeed and do whatever it takes to achieve success. Having a winner’s mentality and deriving pleasure form the leader’s success is a quality to be possessed by them.
3- POVIDE OPEN, HONEST AND ACCURATE INFORMATION:
Most of the leaders base their decisions on the information provided to them by their followers. If these information are accurate and honest it will lead to good decision. Conversely, in-accurate and dishonest information will lead to terrible decisions. History is full of many sad examples where leaders made terrible decision because of the wrong and dishonest advice of people surrounding them. The invasion of Cuba by USA, the onslaught of Afghanistan by Russia and many other disastrous decisions were made mainly due to lousy information submitted by incompetent followers. It is also necessary to mention here that all information provided to a leader by a follower may not be good news or pleasant. At times certain information will be upsetting but a good follower must forewarn the leader and need act as their mind guards.
4- A POSITIVE AND CAN DO ATTITUDE:
The phrase ‘recruit for attitude and train for skills’ is highly relevant for all followers. Sometimes when faced with difficulties even great leaders lose hope- during which times the followers could help them by reminding and reassuring them that they could succeed. It is a fact that all human being are capable of doing anything but only those succeed who possess the can do attitude. It is equally true that a person’s altitude is determined by his/her attitude. As such good followers must possess positive and a can do attitude.
5- LEARNING ATTITUDE:
Learning, the ability to understand one’s limitations, the courage to unlearn negative ideas and beliefs and the desire to acquire new knowledge, skills, and attitude is yet another quality necessary for good followers. To keep pace with the fast changing world of today people need to update themselves with new knowledge. The absence of a learning attitude on the part of a follower can have misfortunate consequences for everyone and their organisations.
Leaders set visions of a better future and their followers create conditions for realising them. The critical role which followers play in the rise or fall of their leaders necessitates that all followers must have the qualities of a good follower. Are you a leader or a follower? If you are a leader search for or create followers having these qualities. But if you are a follower and possess these qualities congratulate yourself and always remember that “GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS’’.
I also believe that many leaders who could have become as great or even greater than the one mentioned here, miserably failed and did not rise because of the lousy followers they had.
Management gurus and leadership experts have written volumes on leaders and the theories of leadership. Theories such as traits theory of leadership, Transformational leadership, Charismatic leadership, and so many other theories have in greater length discussed the topic of leadership. However very little has been written about the qualities of these unknown soldiers who commit their hearts and souls to achieve their leaders goals. Almost every leader in one way or the other owes his/her success to these followers. Without their help no leader can achieve success.
I also strongly believe that no doubt we need excellent leaders to take us to the future, but we also need good followers to help these leaders realise their dreams. For them to be called good followers they need to possess certain qualities which will be mentioned in this article.
QUALITIES OF GOOD FOLLOWERS
The critical role which followers can play in the success of a leader necessitate them to have, acquire, and practice certain qualities. These qualities are:
1- UNDERSTAND, SUPPORT, AND WORK FOR THE LEADER’S VISION
Followers should understand and accurately comprehend their leader’s vision. They must also commit themselves to support that vision. One difficulty which could crop in this regard is the possibility of conflict between the followers and a leader’s vision. To plug this gap followers should align their vision with that of their leader’s. Not only that, but followers must also work very hard to achieve and realise the leader’s vision. They must own the leader’s vision and take it on themselves to make it happen.
2- HELP THE LEADER TO SUCCEED:
Followers can either be like fuel providing energy or roadblocks creating hurdles for the efforts of a leader. Good followers however help the leader to succeed and do whatever it takes to achieve success. Having a winner’s mentality and deriving pleasure form the leader’s success is a quality to be possessed by them.
3- POVIDE OPEN, HONEST AND ACCURATE INFORMATION:
Most of the leaders base their decisions on the information provided to them by their followers. If these information are accurate and honest it will lead to good decision. Conversely, in-accurate and dishonest information will lead to terrible decisions. History is full of many sad examples where leaders made terrible decision because of the wrong and dishonest advice of people surrounding them. The invasion of Cuba by USA, the onslaught of Afghanistan by Russia and many other disastrous decisions were made mainly due to lousy information submitted by incompetent followers. It is also necessary to mention here that all information provided to a leader by a follower may not be good news or pleasant. At times certain information will be upsetting but a good follower must forewarn the leader and need act as their mind guards.
4- A POSITIVE AND CAN DO ATTITUDE:
The phrase ‘recruit for attitude and train for skills’ is highly relevant for all followers. Sometimes when faced with difficulties even great leaders lose hope- during which times the followers could help them by reminding and reassuring them that they could succeed. It is a fact that all human being are capable of doing anything but only those succeed who possess the can do attitude. It is equally true that a person’s altitude is determined by his/her attitude. As such good followers must possess positive and a can do attitude.
5- LEARNING ATTITUDE:
Learning, the ability to understand one’s limitations, the courage to unlearn negative ideas and beliefs and the desire to acquire new knowledge, skills, and attitude is yet another quality necessary for good followers. To keep pace with the fast changing world of today people need to update themselves with new knowledge. The absence of a learning attitude on the part of a follower can have misfortunate consequences for everyone and their organisations.
Leaders set visions of a better future and their followers create conditions for realising them. The critical role which followers play in the rise or fall of their leaders necessitates that all followers must have the qualities of a good follower. Are you a leader or a follower? If you are a leader search for or create followers having these qualities. But if you are a follower and possess these qualities congratulate yourself and always remember that “GOOD FOLLOWERS MAKE GREAT LEADERS’’.
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