Leadership Success: Being an Active Follower

I was recently giving a speech on “Followership” to mentees going through Pathbuilders, the mentoring program in Atlanta, GA. My speech centered on the importance of being an active follower. You probably are having the same reaction I received when I started my speech; “Why would I want to be a follower when I can be a leader? I’m someone who takes initiative, who has great ideas and is results oriented, I like to make things happen.” That’s precisely why you want to be an active follower. These are exactly the same qualities that make a good leader.

By following, you learn from successful leaders how to be a good leader yourself. You begin to model the necessary behavior and establish your reputation as an active follower. That’s when you pave the way to take on a greater leadership role. You see everyone follows someone, even the CEO answers to a board of directors. All leaders came-up through the ranks and recognize the distinction of when to lead and when to follow. All good leaders were good followers. The key to leadership success is being an active follower.

Sage Alliance, a Leadership Performance Company, provides coaching, teambuilding and assessments, workshops and speaking on topics including; leadership development, empowering teams, communications, lasting impressions, personal branding and building a coaching culture for executives and high-potentials – for both team and individual leaders.

Contact us today to discover how your organization can get the most through improved productivity, efficiency and direct impact to your bottom line, while leaders gain powerful insight, crystallize opportunities for growth and fine tune their strengths, enabling them to make the greatest impact. You can contact Shelley Hammell directly at shammell@thesagealliance.com.