Broadgate Speakers in the City

The Fine Art of Finding Followers

Toastmasters Magazine May 2005, Ray Floyd, DTM

For every successful leader there will be a contingent of followers easily recognised for their own accomplishments and value. Think for a moment of a successful business, sports team or Toastmasters club. In each case, you will typically find those who are recognised as the 'leaders.' The key is that these leaders understand how to help move, push, pull or otherwise get the remainder of the organisation going in the desired direction.

While one of the qualities of leadership is team building, it is the people on the team, the followers, who become the backbone for the accomplishment of any given task. The leader may get the recognition, but the team's success depends on the spirit and work of the followers. It is important for the leader to spread that recognition to those most important to the team's success. A prefect example of this is former Miami Dolphin and all-pro quarterback Dan Marino. He continued to provide gifts of thanks to his offensive linemen, the men who protected him on the field game after game. Marion's name is recognised the world over, but how many of these linemen do you remember?

How do you recognise a good follower? Look for people who are always willing to do the trivial task, the unpleasant work, the unglamorous assignment. Also note the rate of accomplishment while doing these tasks - these are the people who can be called on and relied on to do what is necessary to make the outcome successful. They are not concerned about their recognition, but on the outcome and the success of the whole team. These people are also the foundation of that famous work split rule ' '80 percent of the work is accomplished by 20 percent of the people.'It is that 20 percent you need to recognise and call upon to help you be successful.

Have you noticed that club member who declines running for an officer position but is willing to accept the position of sergeant-at-arms? By the way, that is an officer position, but not necessarily a leadership position, since it is not a decision-making role. The club can have an excellent review by visitors, just because the sergeant-at-arms has accepted the role and executes it well. Yet, the perception of the person acting in that role is not one of leadership, but support for the leader - in this case, that would be the club president.

If you look at the club roster map it into the club functions and meeting roles, you will no doubt find members who volunteer to serve roles on the meeting program., work on committees and other efforts, but they continue to decline the offer to become an officer. They have several reasons, good and bad, but the simple answer just may be that they are happier and more productive in the follower role.

Good leaders search for these team players because they recognise their value. These are not the people wanting to 'join' so they cam be identified as part of the leader's organisation. Such hangers-on contribute nothing and will be the first to disappear if the project gets into trouble or proves more challenging than expected.

The good follower buckles down, works harder and searches for other means to gain the objectives desired. A good leader hopes to find a handful of such people. It may take months, or years, to cultivate the relationships needed for the followers to believe in the leader's goals and accept them for their own. But when they do, there are no further questions as to their role. Another old saying, 'Lead, follow or get out of the way' applies at that point. A good leader knows enough to get out of the way!

There are people in our organisation with great skills, sound work ethic, abilities to accept and solve problems, yet they are not the least bit interested in pursuing a leadership role. It is up to the club, area and district officers to recognise these people - and use them to the best of their abilities to help ensure a successful program at all levels.

It is also the officers' responsibility to look to the needs of these followers, making sure that the growth they are looking for within our organisation is provided. Those needs may be more important to them outside our organisation than within. That doesn't make their needs any less important. Recognising, training and guiding are all roles of leadership, and they should be liberally applied to training followers in order to ensure continue success.