So...why Should I follow You?

Sam Walton

 

So...why Should I follow You?

 

I was inspired to write this article after spending hours researching the seminal works on leadership by Professor Barbara Kellerman at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.   As she points out, we spend a considerable time studying leaders (and good leaders at that);  we spend precious little time looking over the fence at ‘followers’ and why they choose to follow – or not.  At the time of writing the Google response to ‘Leadership’ was 287 million responses while a similar search on ‘Followership’ was a mere 267 thousand – almost one tenth.   So we can see how the research is skewed.  I have a feeling this will change.
 

We appear to have few role models in Leadership today.  At a recent seminar to MBA students at the London Business School I asked, ‘Who are today’s Leadership role models?’   Taken aback by the uncharacteristic silence from the class I prompted, ‘in politics?’  This was met with a resounding belly laugh and comments quite unprintable.  ‘In the military?’ – they were not sure but believed there must be.  ‘In business?’ – maybe Jobs, Gates, Sorell, Schmidt and some others less well known.  However, it was a salutary exercise and one which made the MBAs think long and hard.  Long and hard about the next question, ‘Why should I follow you?’  
 

To attempt an answer to this fundamental question we had to establish what people were looking for in a leader and following that why this was apparently not being met in their terms.  Foremost they wanted someone who knows where he or she is going – has a Vision for the business and can communicate it with passion, excitement and clarity.  Something that is worthwhile and one which is sufficiently engaging.    They believed that some leaders have a vision but they were unanimous in their view of the leader’s inability to communicate this to all levels of the business – and certainly not in a confident, exciting and inspiring way.  A dull lot this new breed of leaders.   So first of all the leaders’ challenge is to get them to sign up for a Story which is credible, exciting, risky but the leader is making it so compelling that it is ‘hard to say no’.  Not a bad start – so we are off to the races.  But what keeps us at the races?
 

The second key characteristic was the character and authenticity of the leader.  What had they achieved in their lives to date and what made them tick?  They wanted their leader to be ‘human’; full of all the characteristics of a real person and confident within their own skin....but with style.  So ‘what you see is what you get’ to a point, but that the leader wasn’t trying to put on a mask of someone else; or simply trying to mimic the characteristics of other leaders.  They wanted their leaders to be centre stage but in a humble way able to present themselves as believable, ambitious, competitive, passionate, caring and ...fallible.   Only leaders who are confident within themselves can be authentic.  People see through the inauthentic leader quite quickly and their falsehoods become the stuff of anecdotes which keep the organisation amused for years.  We don’t have to look much further than our politicians to find a wide range of examples of false authenticity.
 

Thirdly was the leader’s ability to communicate and listen.  Most have mastered the art of communications – there are armies of PR consultants who can teach people to communicate – tell a story.  We see our politicians on this rack every day of the year.  So an effective communicator to squeeze the juices of ambition and drive in a way that motivates people is necessary.  However, the other part of the requirement – the ability to listen – takes quite a large number of aspiring leaders out of the equation.  The best leaders, the level 5 leaders, are comfortable in the front line interrogating customers and staff about performance and ideas around enhancement and enrichment.  Average and bad leaders rely upon their subordinates to bring them information which they believe keeps them in touch.  Alas this is a huge and dangerous falsehood.  Most senior managers have exceptional skills at telling their boss exactly what they think he or she wants to hear.  The more remote the leader the more incredible become the stories which find their way to the leader’s ears.  I don’t know of any level 5 leader who would allow remoteness to creep into the schedule.  In fact the opposite is true. 

Churchill often said that much of leadership was about ‘choice’.  Choice in what you do, how you spend your time, with whom you spend your time and upon which subjects you decide to focus and own.  Weak leaders allow themselves to be diverted to agendas where poor but skilful followers want them to go.  Great leaders set the agenda and inspire people to congregate around the critical issues.  Great leaders listen to their business on a very personal level.  They listen to customers who will always tell them the truth - why wouldn’t they?  They spend time at all levels of the business without a Praetorian guard pushing them towards some boring sycophant who has built a career blowing sunshine into dark places.  Level 5 leaders will turn up in all sorts of unexpected places and circumstances seeking out feedback, ideas and above all truth.  Then they will act upon these findings – good or bad.    Above all they will seek feedback on themselves and how they can improve their own performance.  They have the confidence to do this with style.  
 

Great leaders keep an organisation on its toes.   They are the true enemy of complacency and spin.  Little wonder that so few exceptional business leaders seek an alternative career in politics!  People close to the action constantly think about ways to improve things – it is a natural human phenomenon.  If they are ignored or not engaged in ideas around making things more efficient or effective they soon become disillusioned – with their leader.  ‘They don’t want to hear it’ is the cry which heralds the fact that they have given in and are simply going through the motions until a better prospect appears and they can jump ship.  Good followers soon lose respect for leaders who have become remote and remain isolated from the front line truth.
 

When I am engaged on Executive coaching one of the first exercises I conduct is an audit on time.  However, before I do this I always ask the executive to give me the answer – in percentages against available management time.  Invariably this is often wrong by a factor.    It is not that they are knowingly telling me lies; it is the fact that they are in denial or have trained themselves to be unaware of where they invest their own resource.  When we then apply another dimension to this problem of ‘where we invest time’ in terms of their own alignment with the key business priorities then the picture becomes more unimpressive and worrying.  So often time is allocated to low level or less important issues while the crucial challenges are delegated to an executive or a team to report back thereby leaving the leader sidelined.  ‘So’, I ask, ‘what are the one or two Big Challenges that you have your name all over and come Hell or high water you will see through to the bitter end?’  Often the silence is embarrassing – for both of us.  To make the point more telling the next question, ‘If you were to be hit by a No9 bus what would people miss?’ – the embarrassed silence continues.  So we have a lot of work to do! 
 

How a leader deploys him or herself is extremely telling.  They must be an important resource and be perceived accordingly by followers.  Therefore leaders have to be self critical as to how they invest their time.  Too many leaders operate the command and control model, as this is all they know.   Yet they are the control freaks of yesterday who simply squeeze the entire soul out of the organisation.  Some are successful in that they will achieve short term financial performance levels, but their organisation will be inflexible and morale will not be high.  Turnover of staff will also probably be of concern.  The hierarchical command and control model of leadership is finished and is not seen in any enlightened organisation.  However, like any virus it still lingers in prehistoric organisational structures kept alive by dinosaurs that cannot thrive outside it.  I have worked for this style of leader and it was the most debilitating and soul destroying experience of my life to date.
 

Finally the MBA students wanted to see someone with strong personal and professional values – an ethical code they can respect.  Followers admire a leader who behaves in the proper way with employees, suppliers and customers and can earn the respect of all these groups by showing respect to them in turn.  A leader who steps outside the value system or the acceptable code of ethics will inflict irreparable damage upon him or herself and the respect element will be lost forever.    As part of the respect aspect, followers expect to be recognised for the value they add to the business.    Everyone comes to work to do a good job – I think this is a fair assumption to make.  However, just ‘doing a good job’ is not enough without leaders recognising this periodically and with real meaning.  Leaders who look for people doing things right and recognising the parts individuals play in making up the entire company proposition goes a long way in cementing that critical relationship that leaders must enjoy with followers.
 

Followers do not expect their leaders to be perfect.  The perfect leader doesn’t exist.  However, they do expect their leaders to make a difference, be special in some way and yet be humble and authentic with style.  Followers will forgive their leaders for many of their failings – as we all have them.  However, they will not forgive their leaders for not trying or making attempts to improve.  Any leader who tries to devalue some of these aspects is diminishing their impact as a leader with the vital group of followers who ultimately will decide whether he or she is successful or not.  Without followers the leader no longer exists.  I have followed two memorable types of leaders – the first because they inspired and excited me to new heights of performance; the second out of sheer idle curiosity.  There is no question that I learned a lot from both.  I think you can guess which was the more enjoyable and enriching experience.