1: The Role of a Follower

Let's talk about leadership! I believe Nelson Mandela described leadership the best when he said, "it is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership." Leading from behind...that is a concept that most of us have never really thought about. When we think of leaders we think of someone who stands in the front and guides his or her group from out front. But a great leader is one that leads from behind and takes the journey with the group and lets the followers be the ones to shine. 


 "The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader." Followers have a very important job because if there were no followers we would not have leaders. There are many different types of followers but I would like to focus on just four types: partner, resource, implementer and an individualist. A resource is someone who does not really challenge the leader and is not very supportive. They are just kind of there. An implementer is a person who is super supportive but does not really challenge the leader, they just do what they are told. An individualist is someone who is always challenging the leader but is not supportive. It is almost as if they should be doing their own thing. On the other hand a partner is someone who really supports their leader but also challenges their ideas (only to make them better). They do not just follow out orders with out questioning. They ask questions to understand the purpose and they want to work together to achieve their goal. I believe that is the type of follower I am. 

I would like to think that the image above is a metaphor for the type of leader I am. I chose a car because when you look at it you see just one thing. What you do not really think about is all of the little things that make up the car. Every little part is working together to compose one larger things with one main goal. The car is made up of parts that work together to make the car run. As a leader I would like my followers and myself to work together to achieve one common goal for the good of all of us. 

The role of leaders and what kind of leaders there are is ever changing. As our world changes so does the leaders in it...to some extent. I do not believe that the influence of technology is going to effect what type of leaders there are. I think that technology can be used as a tool to get more people connected together easier. However, I believe that in order to be an effective leader you have to not hide behind the internet or social media you have to embrace it and use it as a tool but it has to be more than that. You must have integrity, honesty and morals. I believe that will never change.