FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
February 12, 2004
Follow the Leader
Tuesday's Wall Street Journal featured a wonderful "In the Lead" column in which Carol Hymowitz outlined why the best leaders have employees who would follow them anywhere. The piece also offered the dark side -- not only did many of the leaders interviewed not actively seek people to follow them to their next job, one even warned against surrounding yourself with too many former subordinates. "If you do that, you get very entrenched and stuck in your old ways," he says.
Would you follow your current boss or manager to a new job or project? Take the Fast Company poll.
Posted by Heath Row at February 12, 2004 3:04 PM | Category: leadership |
2 Comments
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Heath,
If you're not creating relationships that you would want to take with you, then you are missing valuable connections that keep you successful.
Consider the type of people a leader is surrounding themselves with. If you cultivate "follower" relationships, then the statement is right that you don't want these people coming with you to a new position.
But, if you are a leader that create other leaders that have a mutual objective, these individuals can help you grow for years to come. Leaders with strong business relationships encourage their subordinates to think independent of them but within the vision presented.
Unfortunately most bosses or managers treat subordinates as less than them, instead of contributors to a larger team working toward a higher objective.
Active loyalty verse blind followers is what true leaders should seek
Sincerely,
Justin Hitt
Strategic Relations Consultant
http://iunctura.com/
the balance is in drawing the line between comfort and status quo
There might be certain leaders who like dealing with a certain team, and god knows the hit-the-ground-running pressure leaders are in, when they switch jobs, I don't blame them when they take their lieutenants with them..
But herein lies the danger, of making the mistake between judging the 'fit' with yourself and the 'fit' with your organization...
What if the business context gets re-drawn? Who stands to gain or lose? Obviously, the lieutenant !
warm regards,
Gautam