Hello there – I’m following you.
Hi back at you – thanks for following me.
I have been a student of leadership for decades, and I’m still learning. I teach graduate leadership courses at Daemen College and Medaille College. I can be very opinionated when it comes to leadership and my opinions don’t always follow the mainstream opinion. For example, I generally believe there is no difference between Leaders and Managers, but I’ll discuss this more in a future blog.
Back to my point. I find it very interesting that on twitter there is no hierarchy – no one is designated as a leader of someone else. Most organizations tend to have defined hierarchy: We are the “Leadership Team” and you must follow us. Or I’m a leader and you are a follower. Or I’m the boss and you are the subordinate. Organizations often don’t find ways or even encourage people throughout the organization to step up to a leadership role.
On twitter, no one is designated as a leader, you are either following or being followed (hopefully not the same as being stalked). You can choose to follow anyone you think might benefit you in some way. That person can choose to allow you to follow them, or block you, or follow you back. It kind of works this way in the real world. I can choose to follow any boss, manager, or supervisor, or I can move on and find a different boss, supervisor or manager to follow. This point is made frequently in surveys, that employees frequently leave their organization because of the relationship (or lack of) with their supervisor. Ultimately in a work environment the follower has a choice. Do I want to continue to follow this person, or block them and follow someone else?
The bottom line is that everyone is following someone and being followed by someone else. I think it would take a lot of pressure off people in a work world if we eliminated the use of the term “leader.” Instead we might say, “I have 10 employees who choose to follow me, and I choose to follow Mary.” This changes the perspective entirely – who am I following (and why) and who is following me (and why)? I certainly realize that this isn’t very practical in most organizations, but it sure is an interesting idea. Instead of having someone anointed as a leader, we get to choose to follow.
So I would be honored if you choose to follow me at HRBuffaloBob. I may even choose to follow you in return. Happy following!
