Strong leadership isn't everything -- also learn the art of 'followership'

One of the great joys in life is assisting organizations with a whole range of issues relating to leadership and “followership.”

Keynote addresses at conventions; workshops for executives and middle managers; private discussions with leaders; and email communications are the four principal ways of interacting with those who lead and those who serve in followership positions. On reflection, it is clear that almost every leader serves simultaneously in both roles. They have people working for them but they also have a boss, or a number of bosses. The great challenge is balancing these roles properly.

AS FAR AS leadership problems, here are a few that have surfaced in the CSRA lately.

• Perfectionists who are hurting their organizations and their customers. By rigidly following rules, perfectionists often say “no” when the best answer is “yes.” Leaders need to help perfectionists become more flexible and to understand that “the perfect is the enemy of the good.” A good solution to a problem is better than a perfect solution that can never be reached.

• At a speech here in Augusta, I pointed out that leaders too often tolerate incompetence. After my talk, a mid-level executive told me, “Incompetence is the cancer that is destroying my organization.” The answer is simple: Incompetent employees or leaders who cannot or will not improve their performance should be told to move on.

• Dealing with downsizing is another leadership challenge in the CSRA. A good, positive example follows.

During a budgetary crisis at the Augusta Museum of History last year, five dedicated employees were given pink slips. Museum Director Nancy Glaser helped find jobs for the departing associates while retaining a staff, which insured that the museum’s vital accreditation was maintained. Also,
she restructured the budget to be sure the museum returned to financial health.

On the issue of followership, one of the most common misperceptions relates to the loyalty of subordinates to their bosses. In June, I received the following email (I have removed the names to protect the privacy of the sender and his boss):

“Given your Air Force career, I’m sure you understand that …. my immediate superior in the chain of command… has my unqualified full support.”

I STRONGLY DISAGREE with this statement. Strong support is fine, but “unqualified full” support is too strong a commitment. What if the boss is grossly incompetent, dishonest or in violation of the law? Would he or she still deserve unqualified full support?

As cadets at West Point in the 1950s, we learned about the Nuremburg principles—that support for a boss must be conditional. Loyalty to a legal and ethical institution is more important than loyalty to an unethical boss. Also, the laws and legal precedents relating to whistleblowers seem clear.

Here is a quote from a 1989 federal law. “Whistleblowers may file complaints that they believe … evidence a violation of a law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; an abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.”

For those interested in learning more about followership I highly recommend The Courageous Follower, by Ira Chaleff. The author shows how followers can best serve the mission of their organizations by helping bosses be better leaders. Chaleff pinpoints five dimensions in which courage can be demonstrated: assuming responsibility; serving; challenging; participating in transformation; and, given the worst-case scenario, leaving. Leading Up:
How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win, by Michael Useem, also is recommended.

How can you and your organization improve your leadership and followership skills? The Blue Ridge Leadership Conference, which is held each October in Black Mountain, N.C., is highly recommended. E-Z-Go, Georgia Iron Works, Georgia Health Sciences University, Shaw Industries and Badcock have sent supervisors from the CSRA to this excellent and inexpensive conference in recent years.

DETAILS? JUST phone Hope Stockton at 1 (334) 844-2870, or go to the web site www.blueridgeleadership.com. It is not too late to sign up. My four workshops at the conference next month, Oct. 12-14, will emphasize leadership and followership.

(The writer – a retired U.S. Air Force major general – is the author of Rules and Tools for Leaders, and Assignment Pentagon. His email address is genpsmith@aol.com.)