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DYNAMIC FOLLOWERS
How, might you ask, is it possible to describe followers as dynamic? Certainly there are dynamic leaders who inspire and motivate others to accomplish visionary goals, but dynamic followers? That's oxymoronic!
Over the years, cultural truisms have aggressively fed our belief systems, helping to shape our stereotypes and prejudices. "Always be a leader, never a follower!" we have been admonished. Eventually such emotionally charged beliefs become our reality and, to a much larger extent, a part of our sacred script of do's and don'ts. Leaders do one thing, followers do another. In our society, followers have been systematically devalued and for many, the very word itself conjures unfavorable images. Through our belief windows, we are likely to see followers as passive sheep-like underlings who are unimaginative and forever dull. Or are they really?
Like other traditional cultural myths, the belief that followers are passive and simply imitative in their conduct may be more self-serving for leaders than real. Moreover, such learned attitudes and beliefs have already proven to be counterproductive in the work place. For instance, we often hear supervisors and managers say, "if you want it done right, do it yourself!" These attitudes predictably undermine trust and cooperation between leaders and followers and contrast sharply with some very basic leadership principles of delegation and empowerment. Leaders who act on similar beliefs are often responsible for encouraging the very behavior of which they complain. This results in what is commonly referred to as a self-fufilling prophecy (see figure 1). (Figure 1 omitted)
For example, leaders who perceive followers as dynamic are more likely to believe that their staff is willing and capable of acting on their own and doing far more than their traditional job descriptions prescribe. With these attitudes firmly etched on their belief windows, enterprising leaders avoid the pitfalls and traps of yesteryear's directive managers. Escaping a style of control and micro-management, they empower their staff to make front-line decisions, encouraging them along the way and, in the process, strengthening the staffs own credibility and sense of competency. This sends a direct message to the followers that their skill levels are respected rather than held in suspect. The work place atmosphere is charged with high levels of energy and trust...