Can Everyone Be a Leader?

Posted on November 11th, 2009 by tim bursch. Filed under business, personal development.


I like leadership. Leaders are magnetic and draw people to a mission or cause. Leaders just lead.

I wonder though, if we are all leaders or striving to be, who will follow us?

I think sometimes we need to learn more about being a good follower. You see lots of books, seminars, classes, blogs, tweets on being a leader. Have you ever seen one on following? Why not a followership seminar? A leader doesn’t always have fans, but they usually have followers.

So, if you find yourself following a decent leader, what makes you a good follower? [I am making the assumption that when you follow someone you are using your head and not trusting a complete wacko]

Here are a few ideas:
  • Attention- Listen and engage your true self with the mission
  • Learner- Be open and flexible to learning new ways of acting and thinking
  • Trust- If you find a good leader and they are authentic, trust them to lead to a good mission
  • Action- If the leader goes into a battle then jump in with them

What would you add? Can you follow?

Image credit: See1,Do1,Teach1

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  • Great points here Tim. I would have to add:

    Extension- Keep on the lookout for things that would assist the leader. Be an extra set of eyes and ears.

    Communication- A leader may not know exactly where to lead the community if the followers don't communicate just where it is they want to go.
  • Jason,
    Thanks for adding your thoughts. I like the idea of extension. It takes an open and humble leader to accept help and feedback. Sounds like a follower that has a leader's back. Protection.
  • anthonymci
    I'd never thought of the importance of being able to be a 'follower'. I'd also like the term 'lead'. To be able to be 'lead', you do have to have an empathy for the leader, otherwise whether you consciously or subconsciously, your actions/thoughts/conversations could be undermining your leader. So if you're being lead, allow yourself to be!
  • Anthony,
    Thanks for stopping by. Empathy is important on both sides. It's about being human.
  • Anna
    Nice post, I've been thinking a lot about this recently... within my new addiction to twitter I've noticed how many leaders there are out there... too many... and more every day! I can't keep up. Can I be a good follower to everyone? Probably not. I think everyone also has an innate want to be a leader as well - I know I do! Some of my favorite leaders are also good followers... or at least, they listen to those that follow them as well...
  • Anna,
    Thanks for stopping by. Good point on leaders being good followers. I think listening is key to healthy leadership. I also like the dynamic that on Twitter we can practice being both a leader and follower.
    Cheers,
    Tim
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