6 Qualities of a Great Follower

Leadership is a popular topic.  I mean, who doesn't secretly or not-so-secretly want to be known as a great leader?  When we read the stories of the past, we all see ourselves as the one who would be sitting in the same seat as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, or Marie Curie.  But why so little love for the follower?  After all, each of these leaders would be nothing without a legion of faithful and gifted followers.

This summer I had the opportunity to join my son on a hike at Philmont Ranch in New Mexico.  We went on this journey with my son's boy scout troop.  There were 20 hikers total and I place myself squarely in the follower role.  I don't like, enjoy, nor have much knowledge about hiking and camping so I was looking to my leaders to make this a positive endurable experience.  During this 13 day journey of 75 miles where we ascended and descended 4000 feet I learned some lessons about how to  be a good follower.  I hope these will help you as you contemplate your critical role as a follower.

1.  Ask questions to become better informed

I was completely at the mercy of our lead navigator and guide.  At the outset, I wasn't clear about our daily direction or course and was not always given the information that I felt would help me attack each day with confidence.  The more I asked questions, the better I understood the overall scope of our trek and the daily expectations of the trail.  By asking questions, I helped our leaders see what was clear and ambiguous about our journey. I found the leader began to anticipate our questions as the adventure continued and provide the kind of information that we found helpful.  If I had continued in silence, all of us would have been less comfortable and informed.  Great followers ask questions to be informed and "in the know"

2.  Before a decision is made, give your open and honest opinions freely

There came several times during our hike that we had to make decisions about which trail to take or which activity we would attempt.  During those times I stated my preference or asked clarifying questions as did others.   Great followers offer their opinions with openness, honest, and respect.

3.  After the decision is made, enthusiastically embrace the decision and help make it successful

Unless the decision is not the decision you preferred!  Actually this last statement IS NOT a trait of a good follower.  Remember, you are the follower, not the leader.   The leaders is the decision maker and, if you want to be a great follower, from time to time you will need to invest your energy and enthusiasm in a decision that you did not wholeheartedly endorse.  A good follower will put his head down and make every effort to see this course through successfully.  Great followers implement decisions even those for which they disagree, as if it was their decision.

4.  Allow yourself to be influenced by the passions of your leader.

Did I mention that I don't like hiking and camping?   However, I noticed that most of the participants of this adventure were truly excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity so it got me wondering, "What is it about hiking and camping that entices these men so much?"  I tried to maintain a positive attitude (very challenging) and keep my grumbling and complaining to a minimum (didn't do so well there!).  In the end, I tasted a little of the feeling of accomplishment and sense of adventure that seems to drive these fellas.  I won't say that I'm planning a trek into the Sierras with a toothbrush and a space blanket, but at least I look back on our trip with some fondness for what we overcame and experienced.  Great followers allow themselves to be influenced by their leaders.

5.  Take initiative to take responsibilities

It's very easy to be a passive follower.  It's possible to only do what you are required to do or directly asked to do.  You won't really get any grief for this approach as no one is expecting more.  However, I noticed there was no shortage of tasks to be accomplished so I took it upon myself to learn how to put up and take down the bear bags (food and smellables that needed to be put up in bags 30-50 feet in the air so the bears wouldn't come visit our camp).   Doing this one small task made our camp set up and take down go a little smoother and it felt satisfying to contribute something beyond the minimum.  Great followers take initiative and learn new skills.

6.  Provide aid and assistance to your peers.

A leader can't be every where at all times.  Our daily hiking regimen meant that we were hiking in a single file line with 10 people back to back.  One one treacherous hike we were descending a narrow canyon trail that had some tricky spots.  One of our hikers was struggling and anxious on his way down.  He was assisted for a couple miles by a dad who took it upon himself to provide individual guidance, modeling, and encouragement.  This task could not have been done by the leader even if he wanted to since he was out front navigating our direction.  This follower (Mr. Warmbier below) provided the perfect assistance for our colleague and made the descent more effective and smooth for the whole squad.  Great followers help one another to strengthen our collective effort.

As we start the 2014-15 school year, it would be a good time to review the qualities of a follower that we embody.  Whether you are a teacher following lead teachers or a principal, whether you are a principal following a superintendent or cabinet, it would behoove us all to be great followers, which will encourage our leaders to be better leaders and make our organizations and schools stronger overall.  Just think what we can accomplish through the efforts of a legion of Stellar followers!  After all, you won't be able to see views like this without a little hardship, dedication, and teamwork!

Paying Attention

From In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman

Flexibility in Organizations

I think an inflexible organization chart which assumes that anyone in a given position will perform exactly the same way his predecessor did is ridiculous. He won't. Therefore, the organization ought to shift and adjust and adapt to the fact that there's a new person on the spot Fletcher Byrom quoted in In Search of Excellence by Peters and Waterman

Peters and Waterman begin their study on excellent American companies by explaining why the rational leadership model of the past was no longer the most successful model in the late 20th century. Successful companies allowed individuals to make their personal mark on the organization instead of following a script from their predecessor. There are still remnants of the command and control model within ourselves and within our organization. Focusing on purpose and meaning will help us all get to the core of what needs to be done and allow us to pursue that path with the gifts and style that most suits us.

Innovation at CVESD Word Cloud

able adult autonomy box change collaborate details dynamic encourage environment expectations exposure extra foster freedom furniture group ideas importance information innovators inspire listeners meet model pacing passion people play positive productive provide purpose quo recognizing redesign reflecting relationship something sometimes space stay strengths student system table talk teachers timely work

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Three Keys to Consultative Leadership

Photo Credit: Nick Stenning

George Washington was an extremely inexperienced leader at the start of the American Revolution, especially when compared to his British counterparts.  This was underscored by some poor decisions at the outset that were costly and foolhardy. As the war progressed he learned to trust his instincts and seek and incorporate the wisdom of his generals.  Immediately after defeating the British in the daring Battle of Trenton, he convened his generals to help determine the next course of action. This war council led to the evasive and offensive action that led to the Battle of Princeton.  Washington learned to inquire from his field leaders and decide on a course of action that was based on this more informed perspective.  Leaders who are wise enough to get multiple perspectives from those who are closest to the action will be leaders who make stronger decisions and build cohesiveness and trust among their leadership team. Here are three principles of consultative leadership that we can glean from His Excellency George Washington

1. Be clear about the type of decision that is made.  General Washington called in his Generals with the express purpose of getting their input for the next course of action in the war.  Although he was going to make the final decision his willingness to ask opinions demonstrated that he valued the Generals.  They understood that Washington needed their perspective, but they also understood that he had the responsibility for making the final declaration on next steps.

2. Listen.  OK, this seems easier than it looks.  When consulting opinions, you will set back the entire process if you simply express your brilliant plan and seek the approval of the team.  You have got to shut up and hear what others are thinking and experiencing.  The only value of a team is if each member actually gets to express their opinion and contribute to the final solution.  You will find that there are ideas and angles that you never have, nor never would have considered if these alternative perspectives were not heard.

3. Be decisive.  After listening, questioning, brainstorming, predicting, and summarizing it's time for the leader to make the decision.  Consultation is not consensus.  In the end, your judgment as a leader has got you to where you are and you need to trust your instinct - along with the wealth of information that has been presented to SELECT the one course that your organization will take.  If Washington can be criticized in the early phases of the war it would be for his indecision.  In fact, in the Battle of Brooklyn, when the Continental Army was routed, he left a decision up to one of his Generals (Nathaniel Greene) despite his instincts telling him to go another way.  The outcome was disastrous and complete.  As the war progressed, he learned to trust his instinct and intuition and led the troops to decisive action and ultimate victory.

What has been your experience with Consultative Leadership?

Hire for Core Values

I was listening to the Dave Ramsey Entreleadership podcast today as they interviewed Patrick Lencioni about his new book The Advantage. I was intrigued by Lencioni's philosophy that he hires people based on three core values. He hires people who are humble, hungry, and smart. I thought that is a great way to select people by defining just a few core values that are non-negotiable for your team.

Love Goes to School

Photo Credit: Gisela Giardino

I was recently reading about the work of Dominic Randolph at Riverdale Country School in New York City.  The article focused on their character education program that was developed through conversations with Martin Seligman and Steve Levin of KIPP fame.   These two educators, Randolph and Levin, took the work of Martin Seligman on character virtues and decided to utilize the character traits that Seligman had uncovered in his work Character Strengths and Virtues.  They were further bolstered by the research of Angela Duckworth who found that IQ was not as strong a determiner as Grit in predicting academic achievement.  She came up with a short list for the educators as the focal point of their character development programs. Now, this is what I found curious.

After a few small adjustments (Levin and Randolph opted to drop love in favor of curiosity), they settled on a final list: zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity.

So, my one question is: Why did they drop love? Is that not a powerful character trait? Did they feel it was impossible to teach love at school?  Then I came across a podcast by Andy Stanley with Joel Manby, the author of Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders.  Mr. Manby takes the bold step of declaring that you can move the bottom line and still take care of people in an organization.


This definitely confirms my feelings about teaching and modeling love in schools. What better place to highlight the self sacrificing quality we desire in ourselves and those we (here it comes again) love than in the school setting.  We see many schools announcing the virtues of tolerance and their anti-bullying programs, but I'd like to explore what would happen when love goes to school.

More Questions

Dave Dimmett over at Leader Talk provides another set of questions worth pondering to help us focus the  majority of our time and effort on what really matters for students. Try these on for size:

My recent experience with Lean Six Sigma makes me wonder, what are the value-added elements of the average teacher’s day? What are the teacher activities from one day that are adding value to student learning? If I think about the full professional day for most educators, it involves tasks that likely fall into some of these categories: adds value to student learning, doesn’t add value but is required by law, doesn’t add value but is required, doesn’t add value to student learning and can be eliminated without difficulty.

Adding new things to schools is easy.  Its agreeing on what should be eliminated and having the courage to cut that is the hardest.

Infrequently Asked Questions

This post at Leader Talk led me to this article at Harvard Business Review on the power of asking questions to lead your organization.  Polly Labarre argues that the best way to lead is through asking great questions that disrupt, challenge, and motivate.  She also shared the work of Vineet Nayar CEO of HCL Technologies, who has a set of 20 questions that he ponders daily.  So, following his model, I came up with some questions to think about for my school:


School

What is the purpose of schooling?


Students

What strengths, abilities, and interest do our students have?

What do our students need to know?  Why do they need to know it?

What do our students need to be able to do?  Why do they need to be able to do this?

Would my children want to attend this school?

What are the blindspots on our campus?


Parents

If our parents could choose any school in the city, would they choose ours?  Why or why not?


Teachers and Staff

What is there at our school that would attract the brightest and best educators?

What do our teachers need today to deliver high quality education to every child?

What can I do today to encourage a teacher?

What can I do today to encourage a colleague, fellow Principal, Superintendent?

What things do I control that I should no longer control?

How can I give control to others, especially those who create value?

How can I encourage others to lead with their strengths?

What can I do to create platforms for the great ideas of teachers, parents and students at SC?

What would happen if there was no Principal at this school?



What questions would you ask at your school or organization?

Grit

Heidi Grant Halvorson on the Harvard Ideacast discussed her new ebook 9 Things Successful People Do Differently.  One of the most significant findings she highlights is an individual's belief that they can improve.  It comes down to perseverance and that awesome word: GRIT.  Intelligence is overrated.  Positive Thinking (without action) is overrated.  Determination and a "Never Say Die" attitude rule the day.

Leadership and Management

Matt Perman shared this excellent article by John Kotter on the actions of leaders compared to mangers.

These two different functions - coping with complexity and coping with change-shape the characteristic activities of management and leadership

The best leaders are attuned to these set of complimentary skills.  I was thinking of this when I read this summary of Anne Mulcahy's address to the Stanford Business School discussing her work turning around a near bankrupt Xerox in the early 2000's.  She instituted immediate cost cutting and efficiency protocols to begin to stem the tide of debt, and at the same time she focused the organization on their core value of innovation, not cutting any money from research and development.  I also appreciate her comments about the centrality of communication to her successful leadership.

"I feel like my title should be Chief Communication Officer, because that's really what I do," she said, emphasizing the importance of listening to customers and employees. "When I became CEO, I spent the first 90 days on planes traveling to various offices and listening to anyone who had a perspective on what was wrong with the company. I think if you spend as much time listening as talking, that's time well spent."

Introverts Can Lead

Listning to HBR's Ideacast, I heart Douglas Conant, former CEO of Campbell's Soup and author of Touchpoints, explain his strategies for turning around several companies.  The final question he answered was around his character his being an introvert.  He explained that the manner in which he finally was able to overcome this trait was by openly acknowledging that he was an introvert and encouraging his team to invite him into a conversation and not wait for him to engage.  It was a powerful moment when he was able to embrace this aspect of his personality and leadership style.  Once he acknowledged openly his bent toward introvertism, he conversely became less of an introvert.   Once again this reminds me of my comments yesterday about leadership styles.  All styles of leadership can be effective.  The loud, gregarious, and extrovert is probably the most common leader style that we think of when we picture the quintessential leader.  However, quiet, reserved, and even introverts can lead.  What is more important is integrity, thoughtfulness, clear thinking, collaboration, and courage.

One Leadership Style Not Needed

I was recently listening to the Catalyst Podcast with Marcus Buckingham, in which he was discussing his new book, Standout.  He was mentioning his study of General Managers in a large company who all had very unique and different strategies to lead their divisions - and all were successful.  He made it clear that those managers would be less successful if they tried to emulate the actions and behaviors of their peers, who led in unique and individualized ways.  The style of leadership is closely tied to the strengths and personality of the leader and the strengths and personality of the team.  A bigger need is to be aware of our own strengths and seek to maximize our impact in a way that is congruent with our own leadership style.    A good question to ask would be, "When I have been most successful, what actions and behaviors have led to that success?"

Learning Presentations

As a Principal, I have many opportunities to present to teachers and on some occasions to my Principal peers. This important form of communication and teaching is one of the primary attributes of a leader. Below are the questions that I ponder to develop and execute the most effective presentations possible.

1. Consider what I want my audience to know and be able to do both at the end of the meeting and at some future date (e.g. end of quarter, semester, year)

2. What is the best way to deliver the content?

3. How can I grab their attention at the outset?

4. Where can I include opportunities for dialogue, discussion, and collaboration?

5. How much time should I provide for my audience to plan and develop next steps with the content?

6. How can I leave them with a bent toward action and an emotional connection with the work?

I will flesh out these questions in the next few posts to explain how I attempt to deliver quality professional development and increase the learning of my staff and colleagues.

Is that your best?

Liz Wiseman in Multipliers

Asking whether people are giving their best gives them the opportunity to push themselves beyond their previous limits.

Are you Talking to Me?

If there is one trait that sets apart good leaders from great, it is the ability to listen. Here's how Liz Wiseman describes that trait.

Liberators are more than just good listeners. They are ferocious listeners. They listen to feed their hunger for knowledge. They listen to learn what other people know and add it to their reservoir of knowledge.

This type of listening is possible only if you th ink others have ideas worth thinking about. The Tyrant believes he has all the answers and is rarely ready to hear, acknowledge, and implement an idea that doesn't come from his own head.

Multipliers

Many of our district administrators have just read the book Multipliers by Liz Wiseman. I'll be posting several quotes and my comments from the book here. It was a great reminder of the power we have to make others more effective, productive, and satisfied in the workplace and at home.

Let's begin with one of the qualities of the "Liberator" as opposed to The "Tyrant".

Tyrants create a tense environment-one that is full of stress and anxiety. Liberators like Robert create an intense environment that requires concentration, diligence, and energy. It is an environment where people are encouraged to think for themselves but also where people experience a deep obligation to do their best work.

So many leaders act as if their colleagues will slack off and do nothing if they are not in their face demanding and directing their every move. My favorite Principal was Dr. Bob Bane who got out of my way and set a vision for our school. I desperately wanted to produce quality results in everything I did because of his respectful and challenging leadership.

Being Intersted

Fast Company had a recent article on the Global Leadership Summit put on yearly by Willow Creek Church in Chicago. One of the attendees remarked that Jim Collins had shared a story of a professor who said, "...instead of spending so much time trying to be interesting, he should try to be interested".

Leaders should spend a lot less time worrying about whether people like them, find them interesting or motivational, and simply show genuine interest in the lives of others. Michael Hyatt recently wrote about his experience sitting down with Billy Graham when Michael was a young acquisitions editor with Thomas Nelson. What he experienced was Billy Graham's complete demonstration of interest and attention to Michael and no evidence of self absorption. This lesson stayed with him for years as an example of authentic and selfless leadership.

Our schools need humble and compassionate leaders who will give their staff, parents, and students their undivided attention, which is the greatest sign of respect and love they can offer.

Just do Something

Kevin De Young's book on decision making fits right into my frame of mind as the new school year looms on the horizon. The title, "Just Do Something" reminds me of one of my leadership maxims of having "A Bias towards Action".

Year one at my new school was a challenge on many levels going to a school twice the size of my former school. It's great to be past that transition phase with a new staff and community and I'm eagerly looking forward to the work our teacher leaders and administration will be implementing during this school year.

Dewey Derailed

In Tim Irwin's excellent book De-Railed, he investigates six modern CEOs who have led organizations into some large pitfalls. His purpose is demonstrate that we can learn from the mistakes of others to avoid falling into the same traps. David McCullough unearthed another failed leader in his outstanding biography of Harry Truman. No, not Truman himself, but Thomas Dewey who ran for President in 1944 and 1948 seemed to embody several of the attributes that Mr. Irwin warned could lead to catastrophe. Irwin mentioned that faltering leaders usually fail on one or more of the following areas:

1. Authenticity
2. Self-management
3. Humility
4. Courage

How did Dewey blow a lead so large (14 points) that pollsters like Elmo Roper decided in September to stop doing any more polls, declared Dewey the winner by a larger margin, and devoted himself to something more profitable? Let's see how Dewey measured up in these categories.

1. Authenticity: A remark attributed to the wife of a New York Republican politician would be widely repeated. "You have to know Mr. Dewey well", she said, "in order to dislike him." A farmer was asked about Dewey after the election and he said, "I kept reading about that Dewey fellow and the more I read the more he reminded me of one of those slick ads trying to get money out of my pocket."

3. Humility - His campaign train was filled with over 90 reporters who unanimously thought he would win and make an excellent chief executive, but they disliked him personally because of his haughty and aloof manner.

2. Self Management: One event on the campaign trail cost him dearly. The engineer of the train caused a lurch that knocked some bystanders to the ground. Dewey responded, "That's the first lunatic I've had for an engineer. He probably ought to be shot at sunrise ..."

4. Courage - His speeches were noteworthy for platitudes and a clear lack of controversy or new ideas. His goal was not to upset anyone, assuming that his large lead was safe and could only be threatened by risky challenges to the opposition. Dewey told Senator Robert A. Taft that when he got into controversies he lost votes - an observation Taft thought disgraceful.

Clearly Mr. Dewey exhibited all of the characteristics of a failed leader. Truman, on the other hand, was not liked very much by the press or the talking heads of his day, but he won over the average American with his straight talking and direct manner.

Check out Michael Hyatt's post about General George B. McClellan as described in Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals. He highlights five flaws to avoid that were characteristic of the leadership failure of this weak leader.