Effective Followership: What To Do Before You're A Leader
There is so much change that occurs in life, so much so that there may come a time when you don't recognize the person you were and who you became. No matter what you do or what the goal is, along the way you are carving out space for yourself, finding your people, and identifying what you're good at and what you can do with those skills.
And then everything changes. Again and again. You can lose leadership titles over and over, and it can feel like you're losing the ability to "lead" or be a "leader" when that happens. You can be a person who doesn't see the appeal of leadership positions or would much rather play a support role than be at the head of a project. You can be a person who has suddenly found themself in a leadership position feeling overwhelmed with the project at hand.
What enables an effective leader to keep pushing forward is being an effective follower. What enables a team to be successful is effective followers.
This talk consists of addressing those misleading conceptions about leadership and "the real world" while highlighting that followership is an important part of leadership and teamwork.
This keynote is accessible to all ages, but may be particularly impactful for highschoolers, college students, and those in transition periods.
Why?
1
Good Followers Make Good Leaders
Great leaders are often great followers first.
Following allows you to learn, adapt, and build credibility.
Every leader will follow again when entering new spaces, learning new skills, or growing into new roles.
Teams thrive when members fluidly move between leading and following based on what’s needed.
2
Followers are important
Leaders are fantastic and incredibly important. They set the vision and parameters to execute said vision, but their followers are the ones actually doing the execution. Following is a massive part of many people's lives and the success of all projects and plans, so emphasizing followership is important!
3
Some People Don't Want to be "Leaders"
Leadership can be alienating and scary, and while it's important to make leadership accessible, that's not what everyone wants!
It's worthwhile and important to create a space where everyone can engage in plans and projects and feel validated.
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