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If you want to be a good leader, learn to follow.

If you want to be a good leader, learn to follow
If you want to be a good leader, learn to follow

Retired Army General and US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that leadership is about achieving more than the science of management says is possible. That’s as good a definition as you’ll find anywhere.

Conventional wisdom has for decades suggested that great leaders are born and not made, but the latest research has shown that’s not the case.

Leaders perform better when they’re seen as one of us

A recent study conducted by Kim Peters and Alex Haslam among 218 Royal Marines recruits revealed that the dominant behaviour we expect from leaders may be a disadvantage.

Trying to be noticed as a leader by adopting more confident attitudes and behaviours than your peers may compromise your ability to attract followers.

The research showed that recruits who thought they had leadership potential attracted the attention of the senior officers, but failed to connect with their potential followers.

Without followers, leadership simply doesn’t exist.

Great leaders are part of the team: 'one of us'
Great leaders are part of the team: ‘one of us’

As the two psychology professors say in their report, “…leadership is a process that emerges from a relationship between leaders and followers who are bound together by their understanding that they are members of the same social group.

Good leaders don’t do it for themselves

The Marines data suggests that those who seek to distance themselves from the group in a bid to demonstrate their superiority risk alienating the recruits they seek to inspire.

People will make more effective leaders if their behaviour indicates that they’re one of the team, sharing the values, objectives and experiences of the other members.

Their leadership style will make it clear that they have the team’s best interests at heart and don’t seek praise and glory for themselves.

Good leaders don't do it alone
Good leaders don’t do it alone

What does it take to be a good follower?

According to leadership expert Professor Barbara Kellerman, followers are beginning to think of themselves as free agents, not as dependent underlings.

“And they act accordingly, often withholding support from bad leaders, throwing their weight behind good ones, and sometimes claiming commanding voices for those lower down in the social or organizational hierarchy,” she says.

Other experts agree, citing personal qualities such as intelligence, courage, independence and a strong sense of ethics.

Which, when you think about it, makes them ideal leadership material.

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