At some point, all leaders have been followers. Effective leaders can identity and learn from both their good and bad leaders who motivated them and modeled how they now lead. Unfortunately, some leaders seem to forget what it means to be a follower once they become leaders. Leadership is a team sport and without followers leaders have no impact. If leaders see themselves as meaning makers, they can position themselves to guide employees to find purpose, an outcome that we believe directly benefits customers, investors and other stakeholders, and the bottom line.
Leaders understand followers by customizing work so that followers not only meet goals, but also find meaning and purpose from their work experience. A number of disciplines have attempted to figure out how people make their lives meaningful. We have adapted these insights into seven questions followers ask and leaders can answer so that their followers feel well led.
Identity: What do I want to be known for as an employee?
Employees bring personal strengths to their work. When leaders recognize these strengths and use them to strengthen others, employees are more motivated. Statoil, headquartered in Norway, is one of the largest oil firms in the world. As they begin to do business in emerging markets, they realize that they need to identify which employees seek the adventure and sometimes trauma of working outside their home country. As they match employees’ strengths and desired identity with business requirements, the right employees take the right job, find more meaning and are more productive.
