Followership - The Other Half of Leadership
| Category: | Leadership |
|---|---|
| Notes: | For any troop meeting, and especially useful right after patrol leader elections, when most Scouts in the room just became followers again. Part of a series - see also followership-disagreeing-the-right-way, mentoring-how-to-teach-a-skill, and mentoring-how-to-be-a-good-mentee. |
We talk a lot in Scouting about being a good leader. Leadership training, leadership positions, leadership requirements for rank. That's all important.
But here's something we don't talk about enough. On any given day, most of the Scouts in this room aren't leading. They're following. Even the Senior Patrol Leader follows the Scoutmaster, and the Scoutmaster follows the committee. Everybody follows somebody.
So what does a good follower do?
A good follower shows up. On time, with the right gear, ready to work. A patrol leader can have the best plan in the world, but it falls apart if half the patrol forgot their mess kits.
A good follower does their job without being asked twice. If you're on water duty, the water gets filled. If you're on cleanup, the site gets clean. Nobody has to stand over you.
A good follower makes the leader's job easier, not harder. That doesn't mean saying yes to everything. It means that when the leader makes a call, you give it a real try instead of grumbling in the back.
And a good follower is paying attention. Here's the secret: every great leader in this troop learned how to lead by following someone well first. They watched what worked and what didn't. They learned what it feels like to be on the other end of a plan.
So the next time you're not the one in charge, don't think of it as a break from leadership. It's half of it.