What do followers look for in a leader?

Asking a leader about leadership could be a mistake. It has the potential to take us down the path of the self-consumed leader who is primarily concerned with personal power and control. Their thinking could be constrained by their insecurities, inadequacies and lack of real leadership capability. Worse, their values and beliefs may support this. 

The opposite can also be the case where leaders do not have the confidence, courage or capacity to lead. Instead, they put their head in their hands and let it all happen around them and to them.

As an AIM Facilitator, Mentor and Coach of leadership and management, I hear a great deal about these leaders and the impact they have on the company and the people in it. None of it is good.

I believe we should consider leadership from a follower’s perspective. After all, it is they who ultimately determine the value and worth of their leader. They are the people who are the recipients of their leader’s imperatives and outcomes. They know what garners their respect, trust and their capacity to follow a leader.  

Interestingly, the majority of people in the programmes I deliver, coach or mentor never really consider what makes a good leader. They tend to either think there leaders are simply good or bad, liked or disliked.

So how can we help people to understand what makes a good leader? 

Ask them!

People generally enjoy participating in and contributing to a brainstorming session. I like to conduct a session on the attributes and behaviours of a good leader to help people understand what good leadership encompasses. Everyone is encouraged to contribute and every response is written up. These are the most common responses:

• Worthy of trust
• Visionary
• Strategic
• Direction and purpose
• Confident
• Open 
• Honest
• Consistent
• Communicator
• Listener
• Questioner
• Approachable
• Inspirational
• Experienced
• Knowledgeable
• Explains the why 
• Decisive
• Role model
• Empathetic
• Self-reflective
• Resilient

 

Interestingly, they are mostly soft skills or people skills. 

When this session is complete there is normally a period of silence while everyone reflects on the list. There are normally some very interesting facial expressions and mumblings amongst the group. This session, along with strong, open and honest discussion between themselves and the whole group, tends to open their eyes to what good leadership really looks like. It is often the missing key to their understanding and awareness of leadership.

When we are considering these attributes and behaviours it is important for common sense to prevail knowing that we are human, we do make mistakes and nobody displays these 100%. 

Some people do find the realisation of this list disturbing as they begin to understand their leaders do not possess many of these skills at all which raises a few personal questions about their employment. 

People have openly spoken to me about leaving their current employer because of this. One young man came to me after the course and thanked me as he now understood why he was so happy with his previous employer compared to his current one. A young lady was in tears and left the room because she realised how poorly she was being led. These are not isolated incidents.

A leader can be anyone from a Supervisor to the CEO and they should know what their followers expect of them. The simplest way to find out is to be open, honest and ask them. Make yourself vulnerable and find out what their expectations are then implement them where appropriate explain why if they are inappropriate. 

Poor leadership can damage people and the business. What can you do to make sure you or your leaders are worthy of a leadership role? 

Recent articles

• What Should You Do When A Manager Treats Staff Badly?
• An Aim Specialist Takes A Problem To Task
• 5 Practical Ways A New Leader Can Make A Positive Impact
• Bouncing back When 360-degree feedback is Hard to Take
• Choose a Candidate

Tags

• Employers
• Leadership
• Workplace
• Power
• Culture