There is a huge difference between attracting leaders and followers. The ability to attract leaders who can take over your role is indispensable. How many times have you encountered someone who was strong in their role, but had no one to back fill their position? It happens more often than not when someone attracts followers VS attracting other leaders.
Your true leadership is not only measured by your performance and the value you bring to the company through innovation, productivity and profitability, but also by the successors you leave behind. Ask yourself, will they emulate your leadership style and continue to grow the company through their future successors or will they pack their desks and follow you?
Every organization needs followers, and they have a specific role they play in achieving the organizations goals. However, in the end the leaders you attract and develop will be the ones who continue to carry your and the company’s vision forward.
Take a moment to breakdown and evaluate your leadership style. Is it conducive to attracting and creating leaders or followers?
Traits of Leaders who attract followers:
- They focus only on the opportunities of others
When you realize that you are focusing primarily on the opportunities of those you work with it is an indication that you will most likely attract followers. Leaders want to work with leaders willing to build up and encourage performance through coaching and developing strengths, as well as, areas of opportunity. - They want recognition for themselves VS their team
If you are only focused on your success you will overlook the efforts of others and fail to value their input. While your team may enjoy the success and recognition that comes they will do so by following your lead rather than being willing to take the lead. Long term this is not a recipe for success. - The team cannot perform without you present
Without you the team cannot perform. They are in constant need of direction VS being willing to make decisions, share ideas and grow beyond that direction. Thus your successes are limited. Without you the team cannot move forward and a result many times nor can you.
Traits of Leaders who attract leaders:
- Focus on the strengths
When you focus on the strengths of others, it means that you believe in their potential and want to see them succeed and reach their personal and professional goals. Leaders will draw to you because they know that you will take a vested interest in their growth. - Invest your time in others
Investing your time in others strengthens the foundation of your organization. By developing talent, looking for best practices and nourishing other’s passion you breed success. It is those successors that will ultimately build from the foundation to create new experiences through fresh ideas, innovation and successors of their own. You deposit in them your beliefs, vision and strategies. Like any investment, in due time, the outcome will be amazing. - They experience success through and with others
Remember it is not about you, but about the team you create around you. Recognizing the success of a team is showing others the type of leader they can be to deliver those same types of results. The ripple effect increases the level of success when everyone is able to share in that success together.
So are you an attractor of leaders or followers?
There is a clear difference, and you have the control of choosing who you want to attract. In the long run the more leaders you attract the more followers you invest in as those leaders will bring their followers with them. As a result you create an environment of succession and growth and who wouldn’t want to work with a leader like that!
Enjoy!