Why true leaders need ‘first’ followers: Di Bella

Why true leaders need ‘first’ followers: Di Bella

Published 17 December 2013 09:38, Updated 18 December 2013 08:38

Phil Di Bella

I believe that many of the leaders of today are self-appointed leaders. You only become a true leader once people choose to follow and support you. In today’s society, we are constantly being told, particularly the younger generations, to become leaders and to establish ourselves. But the truth is leadership and becoming a leader is not all it’s cracked up to be – especially business leadership.The road to being a business leader, and a successful business leader at that, can be rocky and many fail to get their ventures off the ground. There are the lucky few who do succeed and these are the ones who understand that to succeed you need to create or represent something that is easy to follow.

As a business leader, you may receive all the glory and accolades. However, you exist only because of those first supporters, customers and, in some instances, staff, who take the leap of faith to follow you and believe in your ability and actions. Nurturing these first followers is of the utmost importance. It is these first followers and supporters who will, if treated right, ensure your success. This is perhaps one of the most important steps to establishing yourself as a true leader.

Too often this does not occur and the original supporters and followers are forgotten, overlooked and underappreciated when, in fact, they should be considered as leaders in their own right. They took a leap of faith for you and without them, you would not have got this far.

Another mistake made by many leaders once they establish strong and committed followers is they push their idea, vision or movement to the side and make it all about themselves. This will achieve nothing and often hold back any potential success. For an outsider looking in, and for any potential new followers or customers, it is important they are able to see more than the individual because it is followers themselves that often generate more followers.

Inner circle of leadership

Therefore, these first followers need to be recognisable to outsiders, who will consider these first few not as followers but as the inner circle of leadership. The outsiders believe the first followers are influential to the progression of the business vision or idea – and to an extent they are. Without this inner circle of leaders, it can be difficult to develop your idea or movement, because the outsiders, new followers, supporters and customers will emulate those who are clearly visible to them.

Recognising this and having the ability to unselfishly remove yourself from the equation and let others shine can be difficult for many. But these are the characteristics of a true and successful business leader and will often see your venture flourish.

Just like the saying “too many cooks spoil the broth”, the same goes for business and leadership. While the first followers and supporters of the business need to feel appreciated and nurtured because they were there for you from the beginning and are imperative to your business’s success, establishing too many leaders too quickly can confuse outsiders.

Of course, as a business develops and grows, appointing more leaders will be necessary. But it is important to remember and establish that your status as the first leader is known and widely respected. The role of the other leaders within the business is to work in unison with you and consistently reflect your actions and views.

Another factor for business leaders to remember is they will often need to establish two platforms of followers: internal followers, such as employees, and external followers, such as customers and consumers. These different groups will need different forms of nurturing, promoting one over the other or ignoring one particular group could result in a backlash and create disunity among followers.

At the end of the day, a leader is not a leader without followers. A true leader has qualities that enable them to support their followers. They also have the ability to remove themselves to focus on the core idea.

We must never forget it is the core idea that gained the first followers, who ultimately bestowed you with leadership status.