What Followers want from Leaders

Leaders cannot exist without followers, and followers cannot exist without leaders. Successfully living out this interdependence can produce a powerful partnership of collaboration up and down the organization. Perhaps too often we have shown great affection, focus and praise for leadership and are uncomfortable with and shy away from the concept of followership. Yet leaders and followers exist in a participatory, interdependent relationship where each adds to the effectiveness and success of the other. When we observe the activities of people, followers become leaders and leaders become followers as the situations change. All effective leaders, at some time, occupy the position of follower. A long time ago, Aristotle succinctly stated, “All great leaders must first learn to follow.” More recently, Peter Drucker told us, “The defining characteristic of leaders is followers.” Volumes and volumes have been written about the traits and behaviors for leaders. However, seen through the eyes of the follower, there are three emotional responses or feelings that leaders need to generate among followers. (Followership-Its Personal, Too, Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones, Harvard Business Review, 2001, page 3.) It is these emotional responses that build the connection, commitment and loyalty of followers to a leader.

• The feeling of significance, as an individual and for my contribution, driven by the universal human need to be valued. Behavior of the leader says to the follower, “You and your contribution really matter.”
• A feeling of community which happens when people feel a unity of purpose around work, have respect for each other and enjoyment in their relationships.
• A feeling of excitement, challenge and edge.

Generating Emotional Responses
The addition of emotional responses is critical to the discussion of leadership traits and behaviors. Leadership traits are important because those traits drive leadership behaviors. These behaviors, in turn, generate the emotional responses that bind followers to leaders.

Significance
Make sure that each follower knows how their job connects with the end product/service and how the product/service benefits the customer. Let each one know how they contribute to the overall success and goals of the company. Get to know your followers, as individuals. Talk with them about them and their world. Listen (different from hearing) to them. Thank them. Show compassion in difficult situations. Give them honest and deserved praise.

Community
Foster a culture of ownership…”we’re in this together”. Demonstrate an intense desire for your work community to be the best. Hire, develop and retain workers who possess the competencies to contribute to the successes of the team. Celebrate “wins” as a community. Help your team get to know each other and have fun together. Have a visible “something” that identifies your work community, e.g. a shirt with the team name or logo.

Excitement
Assign goals that move followers out of their comfort zone and into their stretch zone where they are challenged through a new and different assignment. Empower followers who will accept responsibility for outcomes. Stretch followers through feedback, coaching, mentoring, learning programs, etc. Encourage innovation by allowing the freedom to sometimes fail. Know each follower’s strengths and passions. Celebrate achievements. All of this proclaims that leadership is not a position of privilege, but rather a position of great responsibility, and that the hardest part of leadership is the people part.