But What About Followership?
We talk a lot about leadership, don’t we?
We take courses in leadership.
We strive for leadership roles.
We brag about our leadership accomplishments.
We honor our leaders and give them special parking places. And big offices. And big staffs.
When we’re not honoring our leaders, we’re complaining about them.
Somehow, followers get lost in the shuffle.
In fact, the word followership is still not recognized as a legitimate word by any of my spelling checkers!
Look around you and you’ll see there are mountains of books about leadership.
Followership? Not so much.
Leaders are heroes while followers plug away in the shadows.
But, as Ira Chaleff — author of Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You’re Told to Do Is Wrong — argues…
“…if leadership is important, so too is followership. You can’t have one without the other.”
Chaleff’s point is well-taken, and there’s a growing movement that recognizes the important role played by intelligent and courageous followers.
If you would like to dig a little deeper, check out Chaleff’s interview at NewYorkTimes.com, Creating the Followers of Tomorrow.
The piece is short and direct, and I am happy to recommend it and the book for your consideration.