Case Study - Types of Followers

There are different types of followers, but all leaders have followers.

Marketers are looking for followers, sellers..looking for followers.

The sooner one realizes this impact on one's life, one's business,

the sooner one starts moving down the right path.

To be a good leader, a good salesperson, a good marketer, you have to have followers and as we develop our own personal leadership, we will have better followers. It "magically" just happens. What makes a good follower? Can someone develop there "followership?"

Following to Lead Well

The Position Myth: "I can't lead if I am not at the top."

- John Maxwell in The 360 Degree Leader

Just a quick note this morning to remind those that follow this blog that in order to be a great leader...

• you have to have great followers
• you have to be a great follower

Without Good Followers, There Are No Real Leaders

The Position Myth: "I can't lead if I am not at the top."

- John Maxwell in The 360 Degree Leader

Just a quick note this morning to remind those that follow this blog that in order to be a great leader...

• you have to have great followers
• you have to be a great follower

I've recently changed companies to join a team at US Home Loans. Our Mission Statement says -

Our goal is to be the lender of choice for the professional real estate agent and their clients in each market we enter as measured by all industry service level surveys reported. We will succeed by meeting the needs of our borrowers through exceptional communication and transparency throughout the loan process and conducting our business with absolute integrity.

US Homeloans' people will be the source of our competitive advantage. We will distinguish ourselves by creating an environment that fosters teamwork and innovation. We will utilize our employee's abilities to the fullest while at the same time treating each other with respect and dignity.

My ability to achieve this Mission Statement, my role as a Loan Officer, my success, my impact, is dependent upon how well I lead up, down, and around.

Problems or Challenges?

Houston, we've had a problem....

James A. Lovell, Captain, US Navy, Astronaut

I need to revisit the example I've used as the basis for much of my teaching; not learning new things as much as uncovering what you already know, and who you are, and putting that to the best use first.


That example is a scene from the movie Apollo 13, after the infamous Houston - we've had a problem!, when the group of scientists and techs were rushed into room with a very large table. Remember that scene where a bunch of stuff was dumped from a box onto the table and they were told to figure out how to FIX the problem up there (pointing up), with this (pointing at the mess of random objects).

That's all they had to fix the oxygen leak and get them crew back to earth; the contects of the box. Of course, the scientists and techs couldn't actually fix the problem, only figure out how to fix it and then communicate that "how" back to the astronauts and hope the crew could duplicate it and the fix was actually right.


Good management and leadership is similar in many ways; identifying what you have to work with and making it work over and over again. This is accomplished by really knowing your people and what they are truly capable of doing, That and having a good evaluation and correction process.


Implement, practice, evaluate, correct and start the process all over again. Good followership and leadership is about having these four things in a never ending circle.

And the issue on Apollo 13....that was a problem.


To that end....




Right People/Right Place thru

Consulting, Coaching and Equipping

Making the Business Case for Assessments

The following is an excerpt of Making the Business Case for Assessments by Ron Tepner and Dan Lezotte in Human Resource Executive Online.

The authors argue that, especially in a poor economy, assessments will show a positive link to the bottom line. They relay several arguments they needed to overcome when rolling out and generating buy-in for their company's plan.

It is particularly important to "make the case" for assessments in a down economy where we have the unusual luxury of more applicants than openings, and the opportunity to be very selective in our new hires.

And, we can ill afford hiring mistakes, or failing to maximize our selection effectiveness, in an economy where productivity and customer service are critical to overcoming the economic challenges that have created a very fine line between success and failure.

As a human resource function, it is our objective to provide our field managers with tools to help them grow their businesses. However, we must first overcome perceived and real obstacles by demonstrating the value of the tools we are offering before we can expect our field managers to fully buy-in.
 
I'll post these additional parts of this article, along with the corresponding responses, over the next few days:

• There is a shortage of available talent for our open positions and we can't let anyone "get away;" we don't have the luxury of being selective.
• Our applicants will not put up with an involved, time-consuming selection process -- they'll just go somewhere else
• It's too inconvenient and time-consuming to ask an applicant to drive to a district office or testing location to take an assessment. We need them to start right away.
• The assessment will take control away from me in making hiring decisions. What if I really want to hire someone but the assessment says I can't?
• Does the assessment really work? I'm pretty good at reading people and generally know who I should and should not hire.

To that end.....

BHAGS to SDABS

In their landmark Built to Last study on the successful habits of visionary companies, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras noted that corporate industry leaders made “bold commitments to ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’ (BHAGs).”

FranklinCovey in a 2002 published paper stated "not only must lofty, compelling goals (BHAGs) be well articulated and coordinated, they must also be translated into Specific Daily Activities and Behaviors (SDABs) that reach to the individual employee's job function. When the CEO announces the BHAG to increase revenue growth trom 7% to 15% per year, employees want to know answers to the simple questions, How? and What Am I Supposed To DO?"

Corporate Goals (BHAGs) must be converted into Employee Behaviors (SDABs) in order to achieve Performance Results.

This goes for individuals also. I posted recently about being able to measure how well you accomplish your mission statement.

Stating and publishing mission statements and setting goals is very important, but just as important is accoumplishing both.

1. Write your mission statement; keep it short - verb, action, result

2. Measure it

3. Set your goals

4. Measure it

5. Develop the behavior

6. Evaluate and Correct 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Treat these things as a "circled list" and as Collins would tell you about those that had great companies; "keep going around and around the circle, ...faster and faster you go around, the faster you'll get better results."

To that end.......

Essential Leadership Discipline: Following Well

Following Well simply has to be an Essential Leadership Discipline. I read more than the average person and almost never run across anything about "following" (except following on Facebook, Twitter, etc). In the last year, and I keep up with stuff like this, I've only come across writings about following on LinkedIn (one article), a website on assessments and the Bible. Nothing else, yet without followers, without following, without following done well we can't have good leadership.

The LinkedIn article was the first time I remember reading anything of substance, besides the Bible, about following. The LinkedIn article is at http://tiny.cc/gMgQM and led me to the book Courageous Follower.

I've since researched and found some other articles on  following written by the Courageous Follwer author Ira Chaleff. Mr. Chaleff has written and lectured extensively about the subject.

Having said all that, maybe this is just another blind spot I've got. Maybe there is more written about the subject that I know about, but one thing I do know, following well is not something that comes easy. Everyday I hear or read about being a good leader, or developing leadership, or some such very important discipline. Yet....following, where's the discussion about this discipline? Without it being written and discussed, it will not be considered important. Are we scared to call ourselves and other followers?

Ponder the thought of how well people follow you, or you follow others. Ponder how important it is to follow well.

To that end, ponder following.


(You can find more on "following" by typing "follow" in the search for this blog)

Courageous Follower: Taking Action

A leader leading leader is not the only one leading. A leader leading leader attracts people that follow and lead well and empowers both to take action.

Courageous Follower: pg 35 - "leaders want their staff to assume more responsibility, initiate ideas, and take action of their own."

Some positive examples this week of a leader leading leader; Curtis staying after me for a meeting (it took 2 tries to get me in the meeting) about settings on a new piece of software that we're trying to implement, Jamie going beyond her normal responsibilities to get a problem fixed, and Austen developing a new market awareness program.

This is type of work that energizes a leader and leaves him refreshed at the end of a hard day instead of worn down.

We must all learn to do the job we're hired to do and accept that the job is not all laid out on a policy or a checklist. We have to think and take action; ask questions, insure we have the knowledge and keep asking ourselves and others questions until we do.

Don't be the weakest link, take action and be a leader leading leader.

This is also a great example of good Character, Competence and Chemistry as described by Bill Hybels in Courageous Leadership and Dan Cathy of Chic-Fil-A.


Follow well.