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One of my favorite quotes when it comes to leadership is by Dennis A. Peer, who says:
“One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you.”
I like this quote because I believe if you have no followers,
then what are you doing as a leader?
Who are you leading? Your existence as a leader is to have followers,
and this is a key reminder to pause for a moment and look back to
ensure those folks are right behind you on your journey.
If you ever look up how to become an effective leader, or take a course
on the subject, you will likely find discussions or courses focusing on
leadership styles, and how to be an effective leader, etc. I believe that
we all can become more effective if we focus on embracing the followers
and make things about them. You must be able to put yourself in their
shoes, and first learn to be a follower if you ever want to lead.
One of the most useful tools I use while lecturing on this subject is a
video of a lone dancer at an outdoor concert. Narrated by Derek Sivers
and titled “Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy,” I first saw it while
watching some videos from TED conferences, and afterwards I realized
it made sense and was very applicable, whether to leading firefighters
or to endeavors in the private sector. The video starts off with a young
man who is dancing by himself and looking somewhat ridiculous. He
is drawing attention from the crowd, with people laughing and talking
about what he is doing. Things change once another person joins in, and
we see the original lone dancer, now a leader, as he embraces the first
follower as an equal. The first follower publicly shows everyone else how
to follow. (Now remember, it often takes guts to fill this role, and as such
being the first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership.)
Once this person gets the hang of the dance moves, he now waves his
buddies over, and as they join in, you see the lone dancer starting a
movement. The crowd now sees the followers, and this is where each
new dancer emulates the followers and not the leader. As the video
progresses, more people continue to jump in and dance because it is
no longer risky for them as they won’t stand out and won’t be ridiculed.
They are now part of the crowd.
As I watch this video, I can picture certain crews within this organization
where the same dynamic occurs. Have you ever seen a shift where the
captain was technically in charge, but the rest of the crew followed the
informal leader such as the engineer or salty firefighter? That informal
leader is the team member truly running the shift. The captain should
seek out this informal leader, take advantage of the situation and
nurture this member as the first follower—since as we’ve seen, that’s
who builds momentum toward team building. It is here where Mr. Sivers
explains how the first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader, or in
another meaning, if the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark
that really makes the fire.
In closing, I would like to thank Derek Sivers for his excellent explanation
on leadership and followers. You can find it on YouTube. I would also like
to close by reinforcing the point that if you’re a leader, it’s never about
you, it’s about your followers.
Photo: HLM Photography
Summer 2016 • FIREWIRE
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