THROWBACK. The Yin to Leadership's Yang: Unpacking the Unsung Role of Followership with Dr. David Leitner

Before we can talk about leadership, we have to talk about followership.

If you’re anything like me, when you heard the term “followership” for the first time, you thought it was a made-up word. Almost like it’s a joke… Who wants to be a follower when you can be a leader?

Lots of people.

A lot of folks have no desire to lead teams or become senior executives. Lots of people are perfectly happy being individual contributors, keeping their heads down, and doing great work.

But being a follower isn’t about blindly doing as you’re told. It’s not about being “a sheep” or “a robot.” Followership is about finding and maximizing the relationship with the leader and your teammates.

In fact, even if your goal is to be a great leader, you have to learn to be a great follower first. Learning to be a great follower will help those emergent leaders pick up opportunities to practice their leadership skills.

The reality is that being a great follower is an important skill for everyone on the team to learn.

If the concept of followership is new to you, you’ll learn quite a bit from Dr. David Leitner in this week’s episode.

Topics:
• 04:41 – What is followership?
• 10:00 – We’re exposed to followership at a very early age
• 11:02 – Followership vs managing up
• 16:46 – We shouldn’t aim to grow leaders, we should aim to grow followers
• 18:03 – Not everyone wants to be a leader, but most want to be great followers
• 22:57 – Great ICs don’t always make great managers
• 25:24 – How do we nurture followership skills?
• 28:28 – It’s OK to disagree but we should eventually commit
• 35:19 – Followership is not blindly following
• 39:31 – The West has become a leadership-centric culture
• 41:25 – Before we can talk leadership we need to start with followership
• 50:50 – Applying followership to cross-functional team relationships
• 58:47 – How does a good follower deal with a bad leader or a bad follower?
• 1:04:00 – Dealing with bad teammates is harder
• 1:05:54 – Emotional intelligence is critical for good followers
• 1:10:00 – Resources to learn more about followership

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Dr. D on LinkedIn
• Watch Dr. D on youtube
• drdleitner.com

This Week’s Audio Book

Check out The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders by Ira Chaleff.

The Courageous Follower explores the vital role of followers in any leadership dynamic, emphasizing the importance of active engagement, critical thinking, and ethical responsibility for followers. The book offers practical advice on how to support and challenge leaders effectively. The book encourages followers to become more courageous, independent thinkers, and advocates for a healthy balance of power between leaders and their followers for successful and ethical leadership. It’s a great read.

Download NowDr. David Leitner, PhD
Followership, Leadership, and Strategy Educator | Public Speaker | Disabled Veteran {CRPS} | On a mission to inspire you to always aim high!

About Dr. D

Dr. David Leitner is an educator specializing in Followership, Leadership, and Strategy. He’s spent the last 10 years helping people become effective followers to better support leadership and improve execution. Dr. D is also a disabled IDF veteran with a severe chronic pain disorder. He shares his experiences to teach leadership, followership, teamwork, grit, and determination. Through one-on-one work, l