The aim of every aspiring leader should be to move people emotionally in a way that releases their discretionary effort in the act of followership.
People who blindly obey are of little use to the modern business leader. In many ways we get the followers we deserve.
Every fully functioning human being is motivated. We all have motives that drive us towards particular actions. To describe direct reports as not being motivated is simply to describe people who have stopped following.
Today, leadership that gets results happens without titles and across lines. It coincides with a refusal to accept the status quo and requires the ability to work in uncertainty by embracing massive change as a massive opportunity.
As we get to understand the interaction between followership and leadership, developing a full understanding of charisma becomes critical as it will help us build the one thing great leaders have that great followers want.
By its very nature, charisma attracts people who are made of 'the right stuff,' have the 'right kind of energy' and are willing to commit that energy to the cause at hand. Given that our need for leaders is born out of our need for reassurance, there can be no more important a concept in leadership than the concept of hope.
Followers look not only for proof that the potential leader cares about them but also for proof of alignment between their values and those they perceive the potential leader to have. The articulation of a goal in hope is a dialogue, not a monologue. Leaders must ensure that the hope is shared. The goal must be sufficiently personal to the leader to be believed, but sufficiently shared to be generative. It isn't enough for leaders to articulate their hope, even if this is done masterfully and vividly. It isn't enough for followers to see the goal as theirs - they must own it as such.
On the other hand, leaders must add value. They, too, must share in the goal. The goal is what ensures the right people make that choice and follow.
Reference: "Follow the Leader: The One Thing Great Leaders Have that Great Followers Want". Emmanuel Gobillot
Business Tips
What it takes to Follow the Leader
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- Parent Category: Business Tips
- Category: Leadership
