Follow the leader

What’s so unique about the title of this post? The title starts with a verb, or an action, implicitly expected from the reader, encouraging all the readers to ‘follow’ a leader. An action that we often take for granted. In the corporate world quite a few workshops and training camps are conducted with an objective of helping the participants to become good leaders. There are zillions of books available in the print and electronic media highlighting the virtues of great leaders and their leadership qualities, often coaxing the readers to imitate or become like one of them. We certainly all want to be successful leaders and some of us do make a conscious attempt to imbibe the qualities of great leaders.
All these workshops and literature might suggest that it is indeed very important for an individual to learn and acquire the skills of a good leader. In doing so, these books literally suggest to anyone, or everyone who reads these books that he can become a good leader by doing x, y, z. Imagine, if this were true, we will end up having a nation, country, organization that is full of leaders. So what is so wrong about everyone turning into a good leader? For one, everyone cannot become a leader as the definition of leader is a personality that invokes many followers to follow him. Secondly, all leaders with no followers is as good as a soldier on a battlefield with all guns, but no bullets.
For even a single leader to become one, there is one vital catch, and that is he needs hundreds if not millions of followers. So in creating a successful leader there should be two forces that should come into play - one that drives ‘a’ particular individual to become a leader; and the second, more important, developing a will amongst all the others to want to become that individuals follower.
And this is problem. While all of us want to become a successful leader, how many of us are resolute to one self on wanting to become a successful follower? Becoming a successful follower is much simpler than becoming a leader. And yet we never consciously think of becoming one. Maybe today’s competitive world has made us to think that becoming a follower is a lower qualification. And since we are all very competitive, we want to become leaders instead. Many a times, our egos stop us from becoming a good follower.
If you think of the term ‘Follower’, the immediate picture that flashes is that of some religious groups, wearing saffron or white clothes and sitting in front of a bearded ‘sadhu’; maybe someone like Ramdev Baba. They are definitely his followers! There is nothing wrong in this picture. However, ‘followers’ encompass a much wider spectrum of individuals, events and groups. We as an individual are first expected to be followers. Only a successful follower can progress to becoming a successful leader.
And the ‘follower’ in us starts the day we are born. As a new born baby we observe that everybody around us seems to be walking and talking. So we start to follow as we learn and so we grow. As we commute we are expected to ‘follow’ traffic rules. A good follower will always make it a point to stop at the red light at a traffic signal before the zebra crossing. As individuals we are required to ‘follow’ defined processes in every walk of life. Even within the corporate world, we are bound to follow the processes laid out. In the BPO world, we actually belong to one process or the other. While our constitution reads our rights, we are expected to follow the law. And yet we tend to cheat, twist or bribe our way through.
Becoming a good follower is an important trait that one should inculcate. And yet, we find no workshops, trainings or books where the importance its “How to’s” are taught. Since we like to quantify things let us put some numbers. For every one leader; there has to be at least hundred followers. Let us accept this as a postulate. Now if we conduct ten leadership workshops in a corporate organization; we would proportionately be required to conduct a thousand Followership workshops to develop as many followers that will be required to make those leaders successful.
In our country of a billion individuals where all complain about not having a good leader; we can still turn thing around if we all stop complaining and start becoming good ‘Followers’ one self. We are certain to find a few good leaders.
The “how to” are three simple steps –
Introspect to yourself the core values you yourself honestly believe in
Identify the leaders around you, who according to you share’s the same values
Start following your leaders with all your trust