Saturday, September 18, 2010

Follow the Leader


Not all of us are born leaders and not all born leaders want to be leaders. Being a leader is not an easy task even when it comes naturally. Leadership is a set of skills that allow you to lead those around you, those you work, live or socialise with. It’s a great set of skills to have should you use them correctly and wisely.

Not all followers enjoy being lead and not all leaders like leading. It’s a fine line that needs to be carefully managed by both parties to ensure the relationship is a successful one that works for both the leader and the follower.

Being a leader often means you are not well liked, it means making some tough decisions and living with the consequences of those decisions and the way in which some followers might react to your leadership. Being the leader means you might face some animosity and you will most probably not be Mr. Popular all the time.

Being a follower also takes a certain set of skills as it’s not always easy being the one being led, not all people are born to be followers. It goes against our natures to be submissive to those around us who have identified themselves as a leader. Being a good follower is as admirable as being a good leader.

A team is only as strong as its weakest link and to be a strong team you need strong followers who are loyal, hard working and who follow their leader without question as well as a leader who is fair, earns trust and has proven to put the team before their own needs. When both sides of the coin works together then both sides are equally important to the success of the team or project.

A skill set called leadership is as important as the skill set called following!

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