It has often been said that every leader is also a follower, and very few leaders have no superiors.
In our society and civilization that is definitely true, and in past periods only Oligarchs, Dictators, Conquerors, Dynasties, and Machiavellian Princes could claim absolute leadership.
Still, one has to ask if that was indeed really leadership or forced enslavement of everyone else to serve their will? Perhaps, a debate for another time, today, I'd like to discuss the issues of solid followership.
You see, not long ago, a gentleman, an expert in leadership mentioned to me that all too often "followership" gets a bad name, and he stated that there is for some reason, wrongfully in fact, that it comes with a negative stigma in our society, that somehow it suggests lesser abilities, no authority, or incapability of responsibility.
When he told me that, well I was glad to hear him say it.
Why you ask? Well, simply because I never follow anyone who isn't better or more capable by my assessment in ethics, integrity, knowledge, intelligence, and know-how, which sure limits who I'd follow - indeed, I haven't followed anyone for decades now.
But do have several folks I read about and keep on my radar screen.
I think that "followership" that is to say responsible followership also should include not following poor leaders off a cliff, or allowing them to okay that the follower do something that he/she knows to be inherently wrong.
So, I don't do blind followership, and most authority isn't up to my level of scrutiny.
Younger people are naive and they follow just about anything based on their pragmatic need to find pecking order on Maslow's pyramid.
I find it alarming actually.
My acquaintance noted that followership should have the ability, even the responsibility to influence the group to reach the goals and objectives of the team.
Unfortunately all followers soon realize through conditioning that counter-opinions lead to diminished potential for advancement.
Academia teaches them this, that's why certain grad students end up with professorships, as they are most likely to carry on the professor's opinion, thus, a second, third, and fourth generation of indoctrinated students.
This is one of the problems we have today.
When leadership develops "Yes" men they get themselves in trouble, real leaders surround themselves by real people, not all drones.
A good leader is not afraid of dissenting opinions, or afraid of additional information, in fact, the best leaders demand it, and use this knowledge and the synergistic strength of the team to win.
If you want to win too, you need to be thinking here, and it hardly matters if you are a leader, follower, or mid-level manager characterized as both presently.
Please consider all this and think on it.