Monday 18 August 2014

Leader or Follower?

The other day I received in my mail, forward of a quote by Management Guru, Shiv Khera which read " It is better to be a good follower than a bad leader." This set me thinking...

If you want a grove of oranges, would sowing apples help?The question may seem absurd.yet,this is what we are doing all the time.In the last three decades management institutes and corporates have been progressively underscoring the importance of leadership and how leadership is the key distinguishing factor between the men & the boys.All encouragement whether in terms of training, monetary benefits or recognition is given to the leader or one aspiring to be a leader.In such a scenario, would any sensible person pay attention  to a declaration that "It is better to be a good follower than a bad leader?" People tend to take seriously only those activities that are recognized & rewarded.  Therefore, good or bad, everyone would like to get on to the bandwagon of where the action is- to the place where appreciation & recognition is available in plenty.

No training is imparted to people for taking on the role of good followers- inputs on how to appreciate the good qualities & strenghts of other members of your team.How to actually compliment and serve as a team player. It has been observed that in political field also in India,every one wants to be a leader;nobody wants to be a follower.National parties having a vested interest of centralizing power, did not allow any single natural leader to emerge strong in the states. They engineered dissension and fanned the ambitions of rivals for ensuring instability in the states.

If the statement"It is better to be a good follower than a bad leader" is relevant & meaningful, the time is long overdue for taking steps to  encourage  those attributes essential for becoming good followers. There is a need whether in politics or in the industry to get the less experienced  to thoroughly learn the ropes before they aspire to be leaders.The ones having genuine flair  is groomed into the role with the support & good will of those around them.

In such a scenario, there is also a clarity that to serve in politics or to contribute  in an industry, every one need not be a  leader.Great contributions can be made by honest, zealous followers as well! 

9 comments:

  1. Valid post and thought provoking! It's high-time to ponder on it.

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  2. Completely agree. Every one wants to be a leader whether they have the qualities or not. It is important to also extol the roles of good contributors.

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  3. Thank you Deepa & Rachna for sharing your thoughts on the subject. Happy to note that you find the topic relevant & merits a discussion.

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  4. "A good leader always has some followers." If the saying is true, then a bad leader would have none. Thus, in the current scenario, the quantum and quality of followers simply attribute towards the identification of a true leader. Happy to see an article which throws some light on the not-so-obvious ones..

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  5. Thank you Ankit for sharing your thoughts.

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  6. Rightly said. Being a good follower is important for achieving team goals, however; good followers will replace the need of a GOOD leader.

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  7. Thank you Abhishek for sharing your thoughts.

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  8. A succinctly presented article that underscores the importance and need of being /having good followers...I do believe that good followers of leaders, become good leaders too, as they pick up the traits of the leader along the way. A strong second line exists under a good leader to take over when needed...Whether in politics or industry, it is imperative that a good leader identifies good followers with leadership skills and grooms them to create a smooth succession line...The importance of the Guru-Shishya parampara that exists in Fine Arts needs to be emphasized here..Good Gurus in fine arts, have often groomed great students who eventually rose to be great, leading artistes themselves.

    Thanks for sharing yet another meaningful and thought provoking article, Rajeev. Kudos and respects.

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  9. Thank you Padmaja. Your comments invariably add so much more to the content and understanding of the post.Thank you so much!

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