If You Want to Be a Great Leader, Try Following

The best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower.

This past week, I went on my annual bird hunting trip to New England. I’ve been making this trip for years and enjoy getting away from work and being in the outdoors.

One of my favorite parts of the trip is that I’m not the leader.

The people I hunt with have been hunting these areas for a lot longer than me. So, I’m content to sit back and let others lead. I get to just relax and enjoy being in the woods, plus I get the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a follower.

Deep in the New Hampshire woods this week, I made some interesting observations.

The best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower. Click To Tweet

Our third day of hunting started out normal. Six of us and three dogs entered the forest at the base of a remote mountain. Once we were clear from the dense underbrush, we discussed the plan of attack. We hadn’t been in this area for several years.

There was a debate among the more experienced hunters about the best way to hunt this area. I heard discussions about skidder trails, clear cuts, spruce bogs, and other details about this mountain. I wasn’t really listening. I was just waiting for my instructions. I was content to just follow the plan, whatever it was.

Without reaching any conclusion that I could tell, our most experienced hunter just picked up his gun and started walking up the mountain. I was confused and didn’t know what we were doing, so I asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Just line up and walk up the hill keeping the sun on your right shoulder. If anything changes, I’ll let you know over the radio.”

OK, I thought. I can do that. So, I set off.

Every few minutes, I would call out to the person on my left and my right to ensure we wouldn’t get separated in the deep woodland expanse. However, about 30 minutes into the push, I could no longer hear the person to my left.

I wasn’t worried, though. This happens a lot when we are pushing through a dense forest. Since there hadn’t been any changes announced over the radios, I continued to hike up the mountain with the sun on my right shoulder.

About 45 minutes later, our leader came over the radio looking for us. He was coming in very weak, indicating he was far away.

I called out to the guys on my right. Three of us were still together, but I realized that the rest of the team had traveled far to the left – almost out of radio range. Over the radio, I asked our leader to shout out loud to figure out where he was.

When I heard his faint voice in the distance, I realized we were almost half a mile apart. We had been walking in separate directions in the dense woods for nearly an hour. We need to backtrack to regroup.

When we finally got the group back together again, I asked our leader what had happened. He told me that when he got to the skidder trail, he realized it was the end of the area he wanted to hunt. So, he turned left to work in a different direction, failing to notify everyone of the change.

Our directions were to walk up the hill and listen for any changes on the radio. Since no changes were announced, three of us continued deep into the forest, utterly unaware that part of the group had changed course. The plan had changed, and no one told us.

The good news is that, other than some sore legs, nothing terrible happened due to this mix-up. But, it does illustrate some important aspects of leadership.

First, it’s important to provide clear directions when you assign a task. This includes allowing people to ask questions to make sure they fully understand the assignment. I talk about this in my book, All in the Same Boat. I learned in the Navy that most misunderstandings occur when the task is first assigned.

Second, it’s critical to follow up throughout an assignment to ensure the orders are still clear. Our leader was silent throughout the entire hunt leading us to falsely assume everything was proceeding to plan. In business, following up with employees on assignments prevents miscommunication and costly mistakes.

Third, it’s essential to let employees know when things change. Just like my hunting experience, conditions on the ground often require us to change our plans. We need to communicate those changes clearly to our employees so they can adjust their actions.

Communication is a critical part of leading people, and that fact was strongly reinforced in the woods this week.

Communication is a critical part of leading people. Click To Tweet

It also reminded me that the best leadership lessons are often learned when we put ourselves in the role of a follower. In my case, I saw how ineffective communication led to poor performance.

I encourage you to put yourself into a follower role every once in a while and see what you learn. The lessons are often more powerful when you see them from the other side.

Using Failure to Fuel Sucess

You’ve probably noticed the same thing as me.

There is success all around us and, as a society, we love to celebrate success. Think about social media. It’s really just a collection of everyone’s highlight reel sent out into cyberspace hoping to get a little positive affirmation.

We also love a good rags-to-riches success story.

Like J. K. Rowling for example.

She went from living on welfare to becoming the world’s first billionaire author.

We love stories like this because it helps us imagine that one day, if we get lucky, maybe we might become the next rags-to-riches story.

But, what about failure?

We don’t like to think or talk about our failures.

We purposely hide our outtakes and our blooper reel from the world.

We purposely hide our outtakes and our blooper reel from the world. Click To Tweet

We fear failure. It’s embarrassing and discouraging when we fail. We feel like a loser in a world where everyone else is winning.

The problem is that failure gets a bad rap. It’s actually more important than success.

Let me explain.

Consider this. Between 2004 and 2006, at the height of auto-maker Toyota’s success, it recalled more vehicles than ever before. They learned the hard way that success leads to complacency.

We need failure.

We need it to learn, grow, and to provide the fuel to propel us towards our goals.

We need failure to learn, grow, and to provide the fuel to propel us towards our goals. Click To Tweet

Even the great J. K. Rowling was rejected by 12 different publishing houses before Bloomsbury finally accepted her stories.

Think of this quote that is often attributed to Winston Churchill (although he never actually said it):

“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” 

Failure is not the problem.

Our response to failure is. It’s the courage to continue that counts.

I recently had Colonel George Milton on my podcast and we spoke specifically about failure. He took a life of failure and built an amazing career in leadership.

He is a highly decorated combat Army veteran who barely graduated from high school. The story of his early struggles and how it provided fuel for his success is powerful.

He never let failure stop him and he was eventually inducted into the United States Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.

Listen in to this episode and learn how to harness the power of failure.

P.S. If you haven’t followed me on Instagram yet, you should. You’ll get a little more “behind the scenes” view of what it’s like to lead a manufacturing business.

Bosses Who Need the Most Help

I’m going to guess you’re a good boss.

How do I know this?

You’re reading this post.

And, more than likely, you’ve read my book, you follow my blog, and you listen to my podcast.

Like me, you probably regularly consume a steady diet of podcasts, audiobooks, and traditional books on business and leadership.

You’re a good leader because you’re humble and hungry.

You know you can always get better. There is always something new to learn.

You use that mindset with employees as well. You are humble when you are around them and you listen with the intent to learn – both how to be a better leader and to have a more successful organization.

Good leaders stay humble and hungry. They are always learning.

Good leaders stay humble and hungry. They are always learning. Click To Tweet

Bad bosses, on the other hand, think they know everything already. And they lack the humility and self-awareness to realize how bad they are as a leader.

The problem is – how do we reach these bosses when they are less likely to seek out new information?

Bad bosses lack the humility and self-awareness to realize how bad they are. They are less likely to seek out new information. Click To Tweet

It makes me think of the bible verse Luke 5:31 that says, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

So, how do we reach those bosses who need a “doctor?”

Let me suggest four ways:

Share leadership articles. If you see a good leadership article or blog post, send it to those that need to hear the message. Add a simple note like, “I thought this was interesting.” That’s all you really need to say. Let the reader figure it out on their own.

Share podcast episodes. If you hear an episode that really resonates with you and you think it would help another boss, send it their way. It’s easy to text an episode to someone that needs to hear it.

Share the books you are reading. After you finish a good book, lend it out to those that need to read it or send them a link to an audiobook you liked.

Follow up regularly. Find out what they thought about the information you shared. Check-in with them. Did they read it? What did they think? Let them know what you thought of it.

I want to see a world with better bosses and the only way we can do that is for good leaders to help all other bosses get better. We owe it to 70% of corporate employees who are currently working for a bad boss.

Another simple idea is to buy multiple copies of a good leadership book and give them away to those that need it. Many authors offer a bulk discount.

I have the watch book

Did you know you I offer a bulk discount on I Have the Watch? Enter the discount code BULK25 at checkout to get 25% off 5 or more books on my website.

I’m happy if you share my bookarticles, and podcast with those that need it but I’m also happy if you just share any good leadership content.

Reach out to me on Twitter and let me know some other ways we can help build a world with better bosses.