What makes a great leader? Article after article is written on the elements of great leadership. Depth of commitment, strength of character, commitment to a cause, generosity of spirit, vulnerability, tenacity in the face of obstacles. All of these characteristics make great leaders.
Just leading...
All alone...
It's funny but I'd never really thought about the fact that to be a great leader, you have to have followers. And at the very beginning, you have to have one early adopter or you're just a lone wolf, a renegade, maybe you're a genius, or maybe you're just a nut job... no one will know if you don't have someone who looks at your dedicated, intuitive, innovative, disruptive idea and says, YEAH! I want IN!
This video:
This video made me laugh and think, and if you can do that, I'll follow your lead.
The focus of the lesson I gleaned is that, while you may not be the first to think of an idea, being an early adopter is equally as important in creating success, in creating a movement from an initial idea. A great follower and a great leader together make a movement, a startup, a business. A great team inspires more and more people to join the wave. For success to be achieved, someone has to come up with the idea and someone has to say, yes to it and buy in (it can't be your mom).
Watch the video and watch how the first adopter is embraced by the leader, how that adopter invites friends in to join him - he's a real community builder, and the leader doesn't try to establish dominance, "follow ME" "This is MY movement" rather he just keeps on leading and innovating and delighting that others have gotten on board. As if to say, "welcome, now let's all DO this thing".
So what if as a founder you were able to maintain that joy and commitment to your initial idea and embrace those people who come onboard as equals, as integral partners in the growth of your idea?
Sometimes, after a while, the hierarchy of a corporate structure starts to suck that away. That exuberance, team spirit and joy of innovation go away, replaced by power struggles and differences in vision. On those days, maybe watch this video, schedule a team building day with us, and remind yourselves of the camaraderie that must exist for your idea to be a movement, to inspire and motivate... to succeed.
For more information about team building days with Possibilities Consulting click here: http://www.possible.co/office-tune-up