Battle Charges and Sheepdogs
When leaders learn to be followers, powerful things can happen.
Most communication and leadership training I encounter focuses on:
- Steering conversations
- Influencing others
- Stimulating action
- Driving an agenda, or
- Impacting results
All this makes sense, but what’s missing? It’s making the decisions to follow, to let yourself be influenced, get curious, or surrender to a new or better idea. Leadership needs followership to be effective. When leaders learn to be intentional followers, powerful things materialize.
Has a leader ever changed course based on your feedback or guidance? How did that feel? When asked this question in our trust-building workshops, common responses are respected, valued, and slightly taller. We fondly remember that leader’s choice to be influenced by us, regardless of the outcome. They earned some trust and loyalty that day.
“Among” Mindset
As a leader, the key to being influenced by others is more mindset than skillset. Instead of picturing yourself out in front of people (like a battle charge) or behind them (like a sheepdog), truly trusted leaders are among people.
When you are “among,” you want to know what people think, believe, and see. You anticipate the excitement, fears, and hopes of those you lead. Simple compliance is not enough because you know it’s unsustainable. So, while driving results, you do so flexibly because you want the whole team to arrive at the finish line.
But How?
- Remind yourself before every interaction that the person you’re speaking with is just as essential and knowledgeable as you. They have different experiences, responsibilities, and expectations than you do. This informs their perspective, which, if encouraged, helps provide insights and possibilities beyond your imagination.
- Let go of the “right” way and seek a better way. Remind yourself that the other person may hold a valuable clue, so get curious.
- Slow down. When the leader is rushed, others clam up, and opportunities for collaboration fade.
- Drop the tennis racket. Competition looks like ongoing “yeah, buts,” raised voices, pulling rank, or other win/lose stuff. Recognize when you fall into contest mode, breathe, and return to a place of mutual respect.
Whether you’re leading a successful business or the bake sale committee of the PTO, be the leader others think of when asked, “Who truly listened to you?” In other words, “Who did you trust?”
Bruce Hendrick
Founder & President
Building Trust, LLC
