If nothing else, this is quite a fun way of stripping the ego from the idea of being a leader. [thanks Steven Anderson]
Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it’s not about the leader anymore – it’s about them, plural. Notice he’s calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.
The 2nd follower is a turning point: it’s proof the first has done well. Now it’s not a lone nut, and it’s not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.
Yes, I recall this video (watched it about a year ago and added it to my Favorites on YouTube). It stirred a lot of discussion on Twitter at the time and shifted the perspective on the concept of “leadership”.
I personally am a bit reluctant to the use of the word. I learn every day from various people not some that subtly or not assert “leadership” skills (on the contrary…). Collective knowledge beats the “leader’s” expertise.
I know what you mean, I think, especially in the light of your tweet on experts. That said, I don’t really have a problem with either leaders or experts. It seems to me both get a bad press (even if, admittedly, that bad press often comes from self-proclaimed leaders and experts.
In terms of leadership, I think the focus should be on the task at hand rather than the role or person. I quite like the Admiral Burke quote on this. “Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure”. I tend to see leadership and learning are interchangeable. A leader who doesn’t listen to the collective isn’t a leader. (Similarly, in my book, an expert who isn’t open to new experience is not an expert)
Anyway, memo to self – don’t comment on rainy Sundays, they get overly long
Long is good. I feel I am saturated with 140 characters (and sometimes tend to think that people can’t actually write longer texts).
I love rain. Nice Sunday to you