Lessons in Leadership for the Followers -Day 11

As I’ve shifted into becoming a leadership coach over the past 6 months I have realized more and more that authentic leadership is the opposite of what most people think.

It’s not a tyrant it’s a friend.

Not demanding, but building trust.

It should be driven by fear, rather fueled by passion for the common mission.

And what I’ve come to realize the most is that the employees, followers, and lowest ranking individuals actually need to be the biggest leaders of all. I learned this one the hard way.

I’ve recently become a part of a much larger organization and brand myself. I was brought in organically to collaborate on a project because of my specific skill set. This project is a subcategory of the bigger brand and I would help lead this initiative.

Long story short I had an incorrect vision of what it meant to join this brand. I thought they had the vision and systems in process and I would show up to do my part. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Fast forward several months as we begin launching program and I start to realize the shit show of organization and communication. I was trying to understand the dynamics of leadership and flow so I stayed reserved when I should have taken control of the ship a long time ago.

There were never discussions about expectations, pay structures or the nitty gritty behind the scenes aspect of doing business. Additionally there was a clear misrepresentation of chain of command that was continually broken based on convenience from the higher ups. This led to a panic and disarray if issues as launches began. And here’s where the lesson began.

These conversations, communication and expectations should have been set by the organization. And yet, I could have and should have brought up these conversations from the beginning. That’s what extreme ownership is all about. Because yes as I am joining there team they need to have these systems in place, I still should have probed for the answers if they weren’t going to provide them.

This is one of the few times in recent years I’ve been in more of a subordinate role and it’s a good reminder of how easy it is to fall in the trap of waiting to be told the X’s and O’s of the business. It took me some high stress situations to remember I’m also in control of being proactive. And that’s a big part of leadership, stepping up regardless of your role on a team.

Even though the leaders need to lead, it’s your individual responsibility to lead when others won’t. And that’s the fascination part about leadership: it’s for everyone and you need to be ready to implement at a moments notice.

Which why time and again I teach my clients that leadership is a lifestyle not a job title. And it’s also about choice: you don’t have to choose to lead, but when you say no to that choice you must take responsibility for what happens next.