I recently read an amazing article in a Toastmasters magazine (and if you are not a member of Toastmasters or know what it’s about, check out more here: www.Toastmasters.org) The article by Caren Schnur Neile discusses how to follow and flourish – mastering the art of followership. How very pertinent to our business! It’s important that people follow, just as it’s important that leaders lead.
You see, not everyone that joins your business is destined by a Leader – and believe me when I tell you that most people do not see themselves as Leaders in any context. Ever heard of the expression “too many Chiefs”? Well, the opposite can also apply – “too many Indians”. It’s important to have a balance. Not everyone can be in charge all at once and we are not Government. Too many Leaders can cause chaos and dysfunction. In any organization, it is important that followers do outnumber Leaders. Leaders are not able to accomplish anything without a certain number of followers. Meaning that Leaders better be good at what they are doing!
Just as with Toastmasters, in the Network Marketing framework we are all encouraged to develop Leadership – it’s part of what we do. But followership is equally as important to develop. Followership focuses on the ingredients required for a positive, successful relationship between followers and Leaders. A strong followership empowers the vast majority of any group to reach the collective goals of the group and company, Leaders and ourselves.
Because followers are so independent, a different kind of relationship is required between them and their Leaders. John S McCallum, Professor of Finance at the University of Manitoba in Canada says: “How well the followers follow is probably just as important to an enterprise’s success as how well the leaders lead.” He goes on to describe the fallout for an organization if a Leader can’t depend on his or her followers: poor work ethic, bad morale, distraction from goals, dissatisfied customers, high costs and product issues, all of which can led to organizational confusion and poor performance of the group as a whole. Is this not equally relevant to us?
In just the same way that Leaders learn to Lead, followers must learn how to follow. Effective followership is supporting. One of the greatest mistakes we can make is believing that somehow followers are either Leaders-in-training or just losers. It’s important to meet everyone where they are at and encourage them – no matter what their aspirations. If there are too many “Cooks in the kitchen” then how is it possible for your organization to build and grow and develop if you don’t have anyone who is actually eating the food? Our business is no different. If everyone on your team is a Leader, you will all have different ideas about things, different directions, different goals and visions. And the almost certain clashes that will result from this will not move your organization forward in anyway.
In Network Marketing, it’s always important to meet people where they are and support them to getting the results that they want. They may not necessarily want to be a Leader. Sometimes we do need to see this in others before they can see it for themselves and the cream will always rise to the surface. However, sometimes people are more than happy to be followers and when we can recognize this in people, don’t push them to be Leaders because you will lose them. It’s critical to have all types of people in your business and to love and nurture them for them. You don’t want a business full of ‘builders’ and ‘Leaders’ – you want a balanced business of all types of people. We’ve all done training on identifying people’s personalities so we can communicate to them effectively. Same as with Leaders and followers. Not everyone wants to lead and not everyone wants to follow. Identify them early on in your business and you will no doubt have a team full of happy, producing, harmonious and fulfilled people that will deliver you a strong profit. Isn’t that what we all want?