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What it means to lead…
Here’s what it means to lead:
“People follow you.”
Seriously. For the first ever Blue Rudder blog entry, I have decided to define what it means to lead. And that’s it.
“People follow you.”
It’s not influencing to accomplish an objective. It’s not vision. It’s not about creating change. It’s not strategic foresight or moral authority. It’s not providing purpose, direction, and motivation (the Army definition). It’s not. If people follow you, you are leading.
In sixth grade, my parents grounded me from the television for a month. I remember that it was the month of May, because on one particular day I was at Chris Dunn’s birthday party (he was born in May), sitting upstairs while everyone else watched the Smurfs. And why did I have to miss the Smurfs? I missed them — I was grounded — because I didn’t sing in music class. The teacher told my parents that I was a “leader.” Because I didn’t sing, a bunch of other kids didn’t sing.
I told my parents that that stunk. I didn’t want to sing. “You are a leader,” they said, “and you are grounded.” I am not really a leader, I thought. I am just a pain in the butt. I was rebellious enough to not sing, and the other kids — none of whom wanted to sing either — gained the courage of immovable lips when they saw mine standing still. I didn’t protest music to start a revolution of silence. I sat there with my mouth closed because I thought singing was dumb — or at least I thought the songs that we sang in music class were dumb. But my parents were right…I was a leader, because others were following. I didn’t have a grand vision. I hadn’t read any John Maxwell. I would have preferred if the other kids would have just gone ahead and sung so that I wouldn’t get grounded.
Kids in the neighborhood follow my son Timmy. He’s only six. He never took my leadership class at West Point (although he may someday). He’s never read Good to Great. But he’s a leader. Absolutely. His friends will do exactly what he says. I don’t really know why. Sometimes it’s because if they don’t, he’ll take his toy and go home. And they would rather have him there and be Chewbacca to his Han Solo for the sixth day in a row than have him leave. Other times, it’s because he’s simply a 40 inch tube of charisma. Kids like to be around him. It makes them feel good, cool, whatever. So they follow him — literally — across the street. It’s about what they want and what Timmy gives them. He’s a leader.
So forget all of the other definitions. They aren’t about leadership. They are about making the simple complex because the simple got boring. They are value judgments — others trying to tell everyone else what leadership should be. I call balderdash. You don’t even have to know where you are going to be a leader (Moses). If others follow — if they get something tangible or intangible — then you could be running across America randomly, and you would be a leader. Run Forrest. Run.
You know how people picked their leaders for much of history? Cultural anthropologists tell us that it was by height. Their mental model told them that they should follow the tallest person. What did the tall person give them — well, a sense of security if nothing else. To this day, that is why tall people make up a disproportionate amount of Fortune 500 CEOs (see Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink for an interesting look at this). Is it stupid to just make the tallest person your leader? I don’t know. Maybe no more stupid than just picking the person who can orate with the most passion. But it doesn’t really matter. If tall made you a leader, then you were a leader. And if you were short, well then someone telling you to be tall didn’t help a whole lot. Just like how it could be discouraging — if you are kind of a pessimist — to have someone write a book that announces optimism as the key to successful leadership. (It’s not. The key to successful leadership doesn’t exist.)
So given this simple but accurate definition of what it means to lead — I’d say professors and pundits and consultants spend way too much time figuring out what it means to lead and then boxing up just exactly how it is that you should do it. Jesus led even before Power Point. And he did a pretty good job. We’d be much better off figuring out who we are, what we believe, why we believe it, and how who we are and what we (selfish-human, flawed “we”) want impacts the people who follow us. And most importantly, we should be figuring out what it is that those followers want or need and what gets in the way of our own, personal quest to provide it. That’s Blue Rudder. That’s what we explore. We’re about thinking about ourselves, improving our understanding of the world around us, and removing the obstacles that keep others from following us.
How do you know if you are a leader? You are a leader if people follow you.
If you want to lead, you can. You can do it and still be you. You don’t even have to be tall (Timmy’s not).
Next time: Why people follow…
Great article on leadership….reminds me of the good ole` days in PL350.
I found this to be an interesting posting. It definitely simplifies one of the most “thought about” definitions out there. I think you are taking the definition down an interesting track. Do you think there’s value in studying the character traits of historical figures who were successful leaders? From the posting it sounds like you recommend instead spending more time looking inward. It definitely gets the wheels inside your head turning……
First comment on the first blog entry! I loved it, despite the fact that you have boiled down my major, a subject which I have studied with intense interest and vigor ever since you asked me what I thought the definition of leadership was, into something so simple. “I think, therefore I am…” “People follow me, therefore I lead.” I should have just written that for my first paper in PL350. Looking back, I believe I went along the lines of “influencing someone to accomplish a task that he or she would not normally do.” I’ve bookmarked the blog and will be checking back often for updates!
Doug…this is really great stuff. You are going to make a great blogger and … leader. I’m looking forward to what’s to come!
kyle
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There’s immense value in studying historical figures. However, I’m not a big fan of having someone else package the take-aways (such as a “Lincoln on Leadership” book). One of my favorite teaching exercises employs a video from the movie Gettysburg. In a room of ten people, I’ll get ten different takes on the nature of Joshua Chamberlain’s leadership. And that is learning — when people see the lessons through their own lens. One of my favorite “leadership” books is Band of Brothers. So yes, I see value in studying past leaders. But the role of an organization like Blue Rudder is to guide the learning, not to direct it.
Doug,
Nice post. It is important to remember that exercising leadership skills is distinctly different from actually leading. Thanks for the reminder. One question I have for your consideration is how you separate “influence.” If I’m influenced by a blog post, does that make me a follower? I’d be interested to know your thoughts.
Best of luck on your venture.
Mike…
Mike,
I was trying to simplify things, but it’s never that easy is it? A great question. One that, in class, I would deflect — to you or to another participant. I am guessing you have your own thoughts — probably more wise than mine. Your question makes me think of three things:
1. Cialdini’s book of the same name (Influence)
2. A lesson in our West Point leadership class called Power and Influence
3. I didn’t yet define what it means to “follow”
My thoughts: leading always involves influence (because if nothing else, you have influenced someone to follow), but influence is not necessarily leadership. Cialdini talks about the principle of reciprocity…that giving someone something (such as a gift) plants a subconscious commitment of returning the favor. A leader could certainly influence someone to follow in this way (it’s a good tool at times), but so might a salesman. After reading Cialdini, I’m usually pretty conscious of this tactic, but that doesn’t mean I’m not susceptible to other forms of influence…
A few days ago, I bought a $40 bottle of cleaner from a door-to-door guy. Empathy probably got the best of me. I looked at him, figured he was working hard to make a living, and bought the cleaner before I even knew what he was selling. I almost stopped when he named the price, but he showed me a few tricks on the window, employing Cialdini’s principle of authority. He also used scarcity (showing me his almost-empty suitcase), and social proof (pulling out a check from a neighbor who bought two bottles), and influenced me to make the purchase. We had a discussion, and I bought the cleaner. Influenced, but not led. This could be similar to my son Timmy “influencing” his friend to be Chewbacca, but the dynamic is a bit different as it’s a habitual relationship with one person telling the other what to do.
Finally, there’s a type of influence — forced influence — that I didn’t delve into in my first post. The use of excessive coercive power moves beyond leader and follower to tyrant and victim. There’s another fine line here (as to what is excessive) and another enormous rat hole probably. Timmy’s threat to go home = not excessive. A bank robber pointing a gun at you and telling you to hand over the cash = excessive.
This discussion right here — to me, this is leadership development. It’s why we took the course at West Point from an identify, analyze, explain, apply model to a self-awareness and exploration model. What I set forth are my thoughts, not necessarily right or wrong. I’d love to hear yours. The turning wheels will eventually turn the fruit into some juice.
In its simplest form leadership is about influencing others even if that is not the intended consequence. You must necessarily influence someone to get them to you follow you. If others follow you have influenced them in some way. Let’s take a look at your story. “The teacher told my parents that I was a “leader.” Because I didn’t sing, a bunch of other kids didn’t sing.” I would argue that you didn’t lead them at all you simply helped them see that they could behave in a manner that was antithetical to the teacher’s desires so they did. Furthermore, if you did lead them it was by influencing them to behave like you. Moreover, what if kids in the next period heard that kids in the previous period refused to sing and did the same thing, but had no knowledge that you were the genesis of this movement: does that mean that they too were following you? Think about this – When I was a kid I watched Cool Hand Luke eat 50 eggs and I decided that if he could it, I could do it (by the way I failed and barfed all over the place). Would you say that Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman) led me to attempt this feat or did his actions simply give me the courage, motivation, and/or knowledge to try it? By the way this is a great movie if you haven’t seen it.
Great post I think one of my favorite leadership books (so hard to pick one) comes from Coach K’s Leading from the Heart.
Awesome Doug! Thanks so much for publishing this!
Doug, thanks for the post. I shared it with some of the lieutenants I teach and they are refreshed by such a simple yet powerful perspective held by someone with as much experience as you. They are also taken back by it’s reinforcement from a recent platoon leader. At the same time they still seem to appreciate how profound the statement is. Thanks for providing another medium for such discussions. Jim.