Groupthink \u2013 well, everyone else is doing it: Learn to recognise that those closest to you may be exhibiting some of the above behaviours. Don\u2019t get caught in the trap that just because everyone else is following a course of action, it must be fine. Jumping off a cliff still hurts even if everyone else is strapping on their running shoes and measuring the distance to the edge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nKnow your Territory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In order to follow well, it\u2019s key to understand your organisation. Recognise its culture and ambitions. Most organisations have a mission statement and company values. Interrogate them and look for evidence of them being adhered to. Follow those leaders who are acting in the closest alignment to the company ethos. Assuming, of course, you both agree with that ethos and can identify leaders who do likewise \u2013 if you can\u2019t, it may be time to polish that CV!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get to know your leader and your leadership team. Know what makes your leaders tick \u2013 there\u2019ll for sure be some corporate ambition in there but try to find the personal drivers and compare them to your own. A close alignment here should give you confidence you\u2019re in the right place, following the right people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, if you\u2019re going to follow someone, know why you\u2019re doing so. Make sure you know where your leader is headed and that you want to go there too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find your Line of Sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One of the key insights an aware follower should have to hand is line of sight between where they are in the business, the actions they are being asked to perform and the connection those actions have to the company’s objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s vital that you can connect leader actions and instructions to the objectives of the company. Nobody wants to work on tasks \u2013 or follow individuals \u2013 that don\u2019t contribute to the success of an organisation. Even the most benign follower still wants to be able to look themselves in the eye and say, \u2018I did the right thing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there\u2019s a break in the chain between you and your businesses\u2019 objectives, ask yourself why. If by following the leader your actions don\u2019t directly benefit the company, then ask for justification. If your task cannot be justified in terms of progressing the company towards its goal, perhaps it\u2019s time to stop performing those activities and seek a more meaningful way to contribute. Or a better leader to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understand your Power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Leaders without followers are either visionaries or fools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Effective leaders need effective followers. This means the follower has real power. Through their actions they validate the leader\u2019s thoughts and direction. They enable a leader\u2019s strategy and realise the objectives laid out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, if the leader\u2019s instruction makes no sense, if you choose NOT to follow, your leader will be forced to reassess. Of course, being deliberately obstructive comes with its own dangers but, in this age of reason and consideration of alternate viewpoints, even the poorest leader will more often than not second-guess themselves when faced with the simple question, \u2018Why?\u2019 A widespread decision not to follow can neutralise and highlight poor leadership and draw attention to issues or risks before they fully manifest. Revolt with care and caution, but don\u2019t dismiss it as a strategy when faced with unreasonable or illogical direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing says, \u2018that\u2019s a stupid idea\u2019 more thoroughly than a refusal to engage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, there is always strength in numbers \u2013 find your fellow travellers and share your thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stay Constructive<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Create consensus and construct your objections through the prism of your team and try to avoid the \u2018awkward\u2019 label. Good leaders will hear your viewpoint and provide reasoned justification and support. Poor leaders will be exposed, thus allowing you to make career choices before investing time and effort in the pursuit of nonsense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of your assessment of the merits or otherwise of following an individual or company down a certain road, make sure that your objections stay constructive. Don\u2019t refuse to do a task because it\u2019s stupid; offer to do the task in a way that better contributes. Use the leaders\u2019 fear of rejection (and it\u2019s there, believe me) to encourage a fair hearing and a saving of face through a better course of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Following is a key, but largely ignored behaviour. Following in a constructive, considered manner will serve anyone and any organisation well \u2013 it will yield better results, a stronger career and, ultimately, demonstrate better behaviours in a team, group or organisation than leadership mandating or followers blindly following will produce in a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all those follower skills are adaptable in some form or another to leadership when that particular calling arrives. And when it does? Well, there are 4 billion articles to review on how to do that properly. One of them must be worth following.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ask Google to search for \u2018Leadership\u2019 and, in less than a second, you will have nearly 4 billion results to hand explaining every possible aspect of the topic. Perform a similar one-word search for \u2018Followership\u2019 and you\u2019ll have to settle for a paltry 2 million results. At its most basic that suggests there are 2,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"line-of-business":[],"class_list":["post-946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"line-of-business","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/line-of-business?post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}