28 May 3 Reasons To Lead Leaders Instead Of Leading Followers
Is your outcome to create leaders or followers? A boss, dictator or guru might want to have a band of followers; however, a TRUE leader is looking to create more leaders. This goes for both work and home. If you’ve got kids, do you want them to be influenced by their peers or to be the one who steps up to do what is right?
Don’t misunderstand me. Following isn’t a bad word at all because a strong leader knows exactly when it’s time to follow. Leader and follower aren’t titles. They are choices.
Below are 3 reasons why, as a leader, you will get further with a team of people who choose to be leaders instead of followers.
1. Leaders take action while followers wait for instruction. When you empower your team to lead their area of responsibility, they won’t need to wait for you to give them direction. They will own what needs to happen and get it done. As they continue to step up, it will continue to free up your time to be more innovative and strategic.
2. Leaders own the outcome while followers look for someone to blame when things go wrong. If you are directing followers, they will not accept responsibility for anything that doesn’t go right, and the blame will always be directed back at you. And, quite honestly, that makes sense since you never gave them the responsibility. When you transfer the accountability and ownership, giving your team the autonomy to lead, the blame game stops. Issues get handled quicker, and the team is more productive and efficient because there are less breaks in the action.
3. Leaders take care of others while followers take care of themselves. When someone steps into a leadership role, even when they have no direct reports, they understand that the world no longer solely revolves around them – others have a role to play. When we create a team of leaders, we start to create a culture where others see the value of everyone on the team. It’s then that we stop looking for what makes us different, and therefore separate, and we start looking for our similarities and what brings us together.
As a leader one of the best gifts you can offer others is the opportunity to lead. Create a team of leaders and see how much further you all go. If you want all the glory for yourself, then alas, you are not a leader.
For the opportunity to experience what being a next-level leader on a high-performing team looks and feels like, join us for our next 3-day High5 Intensive. Email me at Barb@High5Leadership.com to schedule a call, and let’s talk about how this could benefit you and your teams.
You go first. Leadership is practice. Be strong enough to purposefully follow to allow others the opportunity to lead!