A633.7.3.RB - Leader Follower Relationship

After completing the assessment at the beginning of chapter 10, I found that I scored highest in quadrant S1 and S3; S1 receiving a score of 9 and S3 receiving a score of 5. Obolensky (2010) states that “if the sum of S1 and S3 is greater than the sum of S2 and S4 then you may be taking too direct an approach”. This is not far from reality. At work, I am very straight-forward with people. I am nice, and I try to show as much care as possible, but I do not want my need misconstrued.

This summer, I realized I had an issue supervising those two levels lower than me. I enjoyed teaching them, but I worried about them often. I felt like they did not understand the work, and would micromanage every aspect of their responsibilities. It was a hassle, because my coworkers would tell me things they did wrong, and I wanted to show that I cared about the inconvenience they may have made for my coworker, and make sure I was very clear in my expectations. I surveyed them often, and got involved far too often. It is hard for me to sit back and watch them fail. I want them to succeed, but I learned I was not giving them the skill/will to succeed on their own. 

I recall a week I left for vacation, and though there were a lot of things left undone, most of it had to do with the person looking after my work not really knowing how much I did. When I came back, a few of the RAs boasted that since they could not come to me, they trusted their own judgement and were right most of the time. I needed to step back, ignore their pleas, and let them figure things out on their own. In the Inc. article titled "4 Ways To Build Leaders, Not Followers," Searcy (2013) recalls working with a leader who built a company on the dysfunction. The business is only bigger because of his efforts, and his team is paralyzed without his daily direction of what they should do next. I do not want to foster that!

I now understand the importance of letting go and allowing other to take the lead, that is why my future goal will be to implement each of the Four + Four principles (Tell, Sell, Involve, and Devolve). I am going to start by outline the benefits of completing the task at hand and then allow the other person to take on the responsibility as I stand on the sideline providing support.

When you treat a leader as a follower, you are turning them into someone who does not develop the necessary independence, strength, and personal accountability for them to lead others (Searcy, 2013). I want to become the type of leader that people have confidence and trust in. The type that will jump in to help when needed but step back and see how things play out. I want to be a motivator and a mentor. This part I think I do already it is just a better of sharpening my skills. 

It is better to create leaders rather than creating needy followers!

References

Brown, D. (2011). Experiential Approach to Organization Development. 8th edition. Prentice-Hall Publishing.

Searcy, T. (2013). 4 Ways To Build Leaders, Not Followers. Inc. Accessed by http://www.inc.com/tom-searcy/4-ways-to-build-leaders-not-followers.html