LEADERSHIP
What Do Followers Want From a Leader?
Four words that capture the essence of a great leader
There’s a lot of information available about leadership, through books, articles, and online blogs. In contrast, I rarely come across articles or books about being a follower.
So why do people follow certain leaders?
In the book, Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow, authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie described their research. In their research, they asked followers to identify the leader that has the most positive influence on their daily life.
Once each individual identified their ideal leader, Rath and Conchie asked the follower to list three words that best describe what this leader contributed to their life.
Their findings concluded that followers have a very clear picture of what they need, want, and expect from a leader. Here are the top four basic needs:
- Trust
- Compassion
- Stability, and
- Hope
Here’s the thing. These four words, with respect to leadership competencies, do not figure in the top four.
