Who wants to discuss the tired old question “What makes a
great leader” for ten billionth time? Nobody! Instead, let’s talk about
followers. We are all followers in some sense, why do followers follow?
French and Raven claimed power comes from (and therefore we
follow because of) five sources:
Reward Power- The person I follow has the power to provide
me with the money, praise, acknowledgment I desire.
Coercive Power- The person I follow has the authority to
discipline me if I don’t follow them.
Legitimate Power- The person I follow has a title more “lofty”
than mine, and therefore I fall in line with the hierarchical infrastructure to
which I have agreed to adhere.
Expert Power- The person I follow has more knowledge or
expertise in a certain area or field, therefore I am obligated to trust and
follow them.
Referent Power- The person I follow stands for an ideal for
which I can get behind, one I am proud to follow of my own free will and
choice.
Which of these sources of power can we develop? The first
three are equal across the board, based on peers at the same position. We can
work to develop the other types of sources of power.
Be the type of leader now that you want to be in the future.
Stand for something. People follow someone who believes passionately in what
they are doing. If you can’t get excited about your job, why should anyone
else?
Decide who you are, the type of person you want to be, and
be that. Live a sincere life. If that means you want to be an asshole, fine, be
that. But be it in a less altruistic or idealistic industry. Go work for
Comcast. If you feel you were built to help people and make a difference
instead of comparing dick sizes, then
find the work that allows you to pursue those ideals. Do something meaningful.
Stand for something more! Stop competing with others like
you and start competing with those who would bring misery to and defraud the
American people.
For Leaders, Remember
this:
The way you feel about your staff will always be slightly
better than the way they feel about you. So you better love them, and hopefully
they will like and respect you. Start now.
Be what you want to be, want to be what you are best at, the
thing that makes you feel most fulfilled. Stop working toward the next
promotion and start working toward the thing you love the most. Money will
come, but your time, energy and effort is non-refundable.
You can trust me, I'm an MBA.
