Heroes don't go alone (and succeed) in the heroic myths and neither should leaders of change. It simply doesn't work. The grand lone hero becomes the lost or defeated hero - usually a victim. And everyone else suffers the defeat along with the would-be hero. What's really required is a web of aligned leaders and followers that can provide the sustainable reach, credibility and resilience to support the journey "end-to-end." Such webs start with a strong core team and extend outward into the organization or community - just like a spider's web. The importance of "followership" is still dramatically underappreciated, which is a major problem in leading journeys of change. Too little is often expected of those in a follower role and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are, however, exciting profiles of effective followers - followers we would really want in our leadership web. There is always an implicit contract between leaders and followers, whether acknowledged or not. It is much better to have an explicit contract. Leaders have their natural part in the bargain, which is focused on executing the set of heroic leadership roles and strategies and "modeling the way." Followers actually have two parts on their side of the bargain. One is a set of behaviors that supports leaders. The other is a set of behaviors that challenges leaders appropriately. Both sets of behaviors are required.
1. Build the strong Core Team that will anchor your leadership web. 2. Design the extended web of leaders and followers that will provide you with the reach, power, credibility and resilience you will need. 3. Develop the effective followers for the web that can support and challenge leaders as well as each other. 4. Create clear contracts between leaders and followers to call forth and support the best of both. It's About Webs of Leaders & Followers
Effective Followers
The Contract Between Leaders and Followers
How to Use This Chapter
Sign-In or Register to unlock documents
QuickStart packets are designed to guide leadership teams in applying the concepts of that chapter. Each QuickStart has a set of guiding questions as well as worksheets and templates to capture the team’s work. The QuickStart packets work whether you are in the midst of a journey or planning a journey.