Do you remember that often not-so-fun game you played as a child, because the teacher couldn’t come up with anything better to fill time and create some semblance of order? That game where the teacher positioned each student behind the other, told them all to start marching around the room, and had the first person in line do silly gimmicky moves that all the other kids were required to mimic? What was that game called again? Oh right, “Follow the Leader”.
What an interesting game! It entails no winning or losing. It follows no rhyme or reason. But it was amazing to watch the kids behind the leader. Some mimicked the leader exactly. Then there were always those who refused to do anything the leader did. But eventually, you would notice most of the kids stopped following the leader at some point, for whatever reason. Maybe some weren’t being included, maybe they weren’t feeling like part of the team, or maybe they simply got tired. You could always tell it was time for a new line leader, when the current leader began doing really silly things for, what looked like, no apparent reason: jumping up and down, flapping their arms, or hooting all by themselves.
Although we may not have been able to glean much from this game as a child, I would like to suggest there is an important lesson to be learned. When you are leading, you must remember to turn around and see if anyone is following. Sometimes we think that a good leader is simply someone who works hard. And they are, but there’s more to it. Leaders may work hard and long hours. In fact, they may work their butts off trying to accomplish their goals. They may work themselves into a fury at times. But when these hard-working leaders ask for help, many times no one stands willing. No one volunteers, saying, “Wow! I see you working so hard. Let me help.” Like the child flailing alone at the front of the line in a childhood game of Follow the Leader, these exhausted leaders have forgotten to make sure people are still behind them.
So look around. If you don’t have anyone joining in your efforts, and you are exhausted and irritated at your fellow board members, maybe you should realize that you are jumping and flapping your arms all by yourself. It’s time to reassess your leadership skills and focus on gaining the respect, buy-in and attention of your team.