January 10, 2023 by Mike Manazir — (4-⁠5 minutes)

I talk about this in the leadership lesson at the end of the second chapter of my book Learn How to Lead to Win: 33 Powerful Stories and Leadership Lessons.

Teaching followership might be the most difficult facet of leading. You can’t just order people to follow you, even in the military. Your team must be committed to the larger purpose. As a leader, you must recognize the necessity to live in their shoes as you lead. What are they concerned about? Have they internalized the vision? Are they committed? If you as a leader gain authority only from your title, you will not create the right environment for good followership.

I came to realize that to be a leader, I must first learn to be a follower. I came to see the wisdom of the Navy process because it equipped us to be effective leaders who first learned the requirements of followership. It’s a paradigm: effective leaders make the best followers because they know what it takes to be a contributing member of a high-performing team.

Starting the first day at the Naval Academy, the First Class Midshipmen used shock and awe to shake us up and start breaking us down. They had to get our undivided attention. This is serious stuff. If they could not capture our commitment to follow, then the rest of the leadership training would break down. We had to first become obedient followers.

Ira Chaleff, in his book The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To & For Our Leaders talks about what makes an effective follower in their journey to becoming an effective leader.

• First, see yourself as a leader-in-training. Model the attitudes and activities of your leader.
• Second, learn to be a team player. Put the team first.
• Third, be clear on the why of the vision and the why of the mission.
• Fourth, be confident in yourself, your team, and your leader to execute the mission.
• Most importantly, it requires humility to be an effective follower, which is fundamental to being an effective leader. What you learn as a humble follower prepares you to be an effective leader.

To be an effective leader, you must connect with your team at the heart. That human connection will create a positive environment, motivating your team to follow you to your future vision. What you are really striving for is an environment where you don’t want to disappoint them…and they don’t want to disappoint you.

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