I was recently interviewed by Ken Gosnell of CEO Experience. Ken asked me a number of questions which touch on some of the most frequent points of confusion and exploration when it comes to followership. Continue reading “Author Interview”
Category: questions
New Free Resource: Leader-Follower Lists
One of my favorite activities when working with groups to inspire thinking about leadership and followership is to do some simple brainstorming to consider the various qualities, characteristics, responsibilities, and expectations that we attach to these two different people/roles. And to compare and contrast those lists.
In order to facilitate that, we’ve created a simple worksheet that you can use for your own personal reflection and group dialogue. Continue reading “New Free Resource: Leader-Follower Lists”
New Free Resource: Satisfying Communication
At the heart of excellent followership is relationship—with one’s leader and with one’s peers. And at the heart of relationship is communication.
If we’re going to follow well, if we’re going to contribute well, we have participate in—and contribute toward—a positive communication environment.
The challenge comes in that each member of a group will tend to have personal preferences that define what it means for them to engage in a positive, satisfying dialogue. Continue reading “New Free Resource: Satisfying Communication”
New Free Resource: What would you do if someone gave you…?
I’m not a dreamer. I’m not a visionary. Possibilities elude me. Passions are often fairly subdued. And yet, all of these things are vital for me to be the best contributor I can be.
So, I decided to give myself some help. I created a reflective, conversational activity to stimulate my heart and mind to birth some vision and engender some possibilities about what I would like to see accomplished in and through my life. Continue reading “New Free Resource: What would you do if someone gave you…?”
No Ambition for Position
As 2016 closes out, it’s a common consideration to look ahead at 2017 and to think about plans, desires, and dreams for what next year will bring. Opportunities, changes, achievements…the clean slate of a new year seems to welcome them all.
“New Year’s Resolutions” are part and parcel of this season as well. What commitments will we make in order to best position ourselves to take advantage of the possibilities for the new calendar year? How will we motivate ourselves to be what we know we can be and do what we hope we can do? Continue reading “No Ambition for Position”
5 Gauges for Your Followership
There are a variety of jobs in the world. Some are by nature less intense than others. I’ve had several friends that have worked as late-night security guards at various buildings or housing developments. Although their presence was important, they often related to me that the job itself was not particularly intense: they regularly spent time reading books, studying for exams, or otherwise filling their attention while on the clock.
My employment experience in the non-profit world has been somewhat different. Not only is presence important, but the intensity is fairly high. I am rarely in a position of struggling to figure out how to fill my time simply to put in the required hours. More often, we face decisions about what to say no to, what to let go of, because there isn’t enough time or energy to do everything that we could possibly invest ourselves in. There’s no end to the relationships, the preparation, the communication, the meetings that we could involve ourselves with.
But how do we know when we’re outpacing ourselves? How do we know if we’re pushing ourselves too hard, for too long—overamping on our intensity in unhealthy and unsustainable ways? How do we know whether, in the course of our desire to be excellent contributors, we are actually stretching ourselves so thin that the quality of our followership is actually diminishing, even if our short-term output seems to be multiplying? Continue reading “5 Gauges for Your Followership”
Person of Integrity?
As an author, perhaps it’s appropriate that I like written communication. Texting, more so than phone calls, is comfortable to me. And although my work necessitates me spending several hours a week on the phone or Skype, it’s still email that carries the bulk of my interaction with others.
Perhaps that’s why I have 11 email addresses! Continue reading “Person of Integrity?”
Leader: the ideal human being?
During a recent conference workshop, I asked the attendees to make a list of the qualities, characteristics, and responsibilities of a leader/leadership.
Here’s a sampling of what they came up with: Continue reading “Leader: the ideal human being?”
Responding to a Leadership Wishlist
As a follower, what do you desire from your leader? What characteristics would be beneficial to you in your pursuit of following with excellence?
In 1994, Warren Bennis suggested that followers need three basic qualities from their leaders: “they want direction; they want trust; and they want hope.” Continue reading “Responding to a Leadership Wishlist”
Followership is…? (not Twitter!)
Followership. This blog, and many books, are focused on the topic of following. But what is it that we’re talking about?
The abundance of books on leadership, each of which offers its own definition of that concept, hasn’t really brought us any closer to a universally agreed-upon characterization of this fundamental idea. And honestly, this drives the mathematician/scientist side of me a little nuts.
So is there any hope for us to achieve something definitive for the notion of ‘followership’? Continue reading “Followership is…? (not Twitter!)”
Followership: Object or Identity?
I remember when my wife was diagnosed with coeliac disease. There was a little bit of a struggle to figure out how we would talk about it. Should she say, “I have coeliac disease” or instead, “I am coeliac”? (see my reflection here)
The basic question that was tugging at us was whether this is an object (something she may either possess or dispose of) or rather an aspect of identity, something that should be adopted and acknowledged as an essential or significant aspect of her personhood.
My own journey in followership raised a similar question. Continue reading “Followership: Object or Identity?”
Lead or Follow: which is easier?
I’ve spent most of my career up to this point in strictly a followership role, without any formal position of leadership. In that time, I don’t think I ever found myself saying of my leaders, “You guys don’t know how good you’ve got it; your role is so easy compared to mine.”
Having more recently stepped into a leadership role, I can now verify the degree of challenge and burden which I expect many leaders face.
But does that mean that leadership is harder than followership? Continue reading “Lead or Follow: which is easier?”
Embracing Followership 