When leading looks a lot like following
When we think about leaders and effective leadership, the words that come to mind for most of us probably follow similar themes: "Innovative." "Unique." "Passionate." "Charismatic." We think of someone with great ideas and the authority and means to implement them. We envision those who hold positions of power, or those who desire power.
What we don't think of is ... the followers.
"Followers", according to a quick Google search, are those who "go or come after." The word implies passivity, and indicates a lack of innovation, uniqueness, and passion. To follow is the opposite of lead. This, my friends, is surely not groundbreaking information. We're teachers, we know our opposites! If you are not the leader, you are the follower. Follow the leader. Don't be a follower. How often do we tell our own students to "be a leader, not a follower"? I must say it once a week.
Look a little closer at that dictionary entry, though.
Do you see that "archaic" definition? "To strive after; aim at."
Huh.
Maybe the act of following has a little bit of leadership in it, after all.
Now hear me out. How often has someone in your school -- another teacher, a support staff member, your principal! -- come up with an idea? It's a good idea, maybe a little labor intensive, and it requires that illusive "buy-in". Other people need to agree, other people need to get involved, and other people need to indicate that they see merit in the idea.
I'll give you an example: My school is trying, at the moment, to implement a school-wide positive behavior plan. Our SEL committee, of which I am a member, has proposed multiple ideas: positive behavior raffle tickets, grade-level Student Of The Month nominations, school-wide competitions between classrooms. And you might be surprised to hear that most staff members are either indifferent to the idea or are openly opposed. It sounds labor intensive, some have said. More work for me! Kids won't care enough about being "student of the month" to change their behavior. Parents will object. Kids' feelings will be hurt!
You name the objection, we've heard it. What we haven't heard is one voice saying, "... let's try it." One voice saying, "How can I help?" "Where can we start?" "Let's give it a try." Now, we haven't made any formal proposals yet. These are all just ideas, floating around the building. But that's part of the problem! Nobody has expressed support for any one idea, nobody has championed any suggestion or volunteered to give it a try.
What if there was one voice, on one team, offering to back one idea?
A friend who teaches in another local school district recently sent me a link to the YouTube video you'll find below. Entitled "Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy," the shaky, poorly-filmed video shows a shirtless dancing man, shakin' his groove thang on a hill at some kind of concert or music festival. Shirtless Guy dances solo for a while, not caring how much he looks like a nut. He's just movin' to the rhythm, probably enjoying the tunes and feeling the breeze on his bare torso.
But around 22 seconds in, something important happens: somebody else joins the dance. Somebody else says, "Hey, what you're doing has got value! It looks fun! I think I'll try ..." and just like Derek Sivers, the video's narrator, says, "he shows everyone else how to follow". That doesn't mean the leader's job is over; in fact, far from it: the leader (literally, in the case of the video, but also figuratively) embraces his follower. He shows others that he wants the company, and he is happy to have you join.
Now, more than likely the making of this video was fueled by, uh, more than just positive vibes. But do we see how this might apply in real life?
What if one teacher, or one team, stood up and said, "Hey, let's try Student of the Month (or raffle tickets, or competition points)! What have we got to lose?" And what if the SEL team took that person, or that team, under our collective arm and helped them implement the idea?
Think back to that so-called "archaic" definition of "follower". "To strive after; aim at."
What if by being the one who follows, the one who backs an idea, the one who is not afraid to step up and look a little crazy, you can actually effect real change? What if by aiming to emulate the person who stood up with the idea in the first place, you might make a difference?
Check out the Dancing Guy video below (it is part of a larger TED Talk, available here if you're interested) and think about it: what initiative or idea can you jump on board with? Where can you be that key First Follower? How can you nurture and engage your First Follower? Let's strive to achieve greatness!
