Followership, as a leader

By Jonathan Lewis

We seem to spend a lot of energy figuring out how to lead, why not pause for a moment and feel into how it is to follow? I rarely ask myself if I’m any good at following, but allowing others to lead is a key ingredient in getting something done. Without this perspective aren’t we setting ourselves up to carry the whole burden?

Moving between leader and follower

To me, followership has a lot to do with leaning into the unknown. I think about when I’m sitting there “technically” in charge while someone else is hosting a workshop or leading a conversation. Am I relaxed and enjoying the moment, or am I constantly suppressing my impulses to take over or correct their “errors”?

I like to know what’s going to happen and that things will turn out well. When someone else is leading, even for a few moments, I can no longer satisfy my desire for control. So when someone else leads I simply do not know what will happen. It’s this feeling of letting go which takes some getting used to. 

Is this something you have experienced? If having others lead for a short time is a challenge for you, consider where else this pattern might play out in your work. Getting comfortable releasing control for brief moments might just be the way to make a bigger change.

Good followership is part of good leadership

When someone with formal power over us shares an idea are we simply accepting it, resisting it, or some mix of the two? Wouldn’t it be better to enter the conversation with the mindset of it being a shared problem and not a competition?

You’ve probably been on the receiving end of a habitually hostile (or overly accommodating) employee. You need support and engagement but that’s missing. Take a moment to consider whether you exhibit this behaviour yourself, or is your boss simply impossible to engage with?

Thinking about the term followership is simply another view on leadership. How do we delegate? Can we go with suggestions that don’t immediately make sense to us? Can we genuinely let go of control and allow things to unfold in the context we’ve created? Is our boss simply stupid or are they a human (like you) doing their best?

How do you see followership?

I’m curious about your own experience of letting others lead - that moment of switching roles without switching off completely. Our ConnectMinds theme this month is followership, I’d like to share your insights with our network. Pop a comment below and (with your permission) I’ll add them to anything we share to our wider audience.

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