Name: Leadership is Half the Story
Rating: 4.3 (27 reviews)
Author: Marc Hurwitz and Samantha Hurwitz

What’s in it for me? Discover a new approach to leadership.

Traditionally, leadership is a top-down affair and those who follow are considered not only less skilled but unworthy. Though this way of thinking is still common, it’s incompatible with the modern workplace. Work these days is fluid; employees constantly switch jobs and roles, while businesses face challenges that are too vast and technical for any one person to overcome.

That’s why we need to adopt a new, flexible mindset that recognizes the need to shift leadership as the context changes. In these blinks, you’ll find out how to do just that by empowering followers, fostering collaboration and being open to the best ideas, regardless of who proposes them.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why social skills are integral to the modern workplace;
how leaders depend on their followers; and
how you can increase innovation by embracing flexibility.

In the modern, team-oriented workplace, social skills and adaptability are key.

It was just a few decades ago that leadership gurus like Jack Welch rose to prominence by peddling the idea that success is built on individualism, personal drive and self-reliance. But today, such a notion is almost inconceivable; the world of business has shifted and workplaces are more team-oriented than ever before.

In fact, a study conducted in 2012 found that, in the 1980s, just 20 percent of work happened in teams, compared to 80 percent in the 2010s. Thus, people entering the workforce in the twenty-first century are sometimes referred to as the “we generation.” This generation knows that working together is the best way to produce good work.

This new focus on teamwork has made interpersonal skills absolutely crucial for modern employees. People who lack such skills find it practically impossible to effectively contribute to a team. After all, if you can’t communicate well, listen to others or see beyond your own ideas, how can you contribute to a group effort?

But sociability isn’t the only necessary ingredient in the changing workplace. Agility is also invaluable. Modern firms are notorious for rapid-fire corporate restructuring, and one must be able roll with the punches.

According to a study done by the labor statisticians Hipple and Sok, the average employee stays with the same company for about 4.6 years. Jumping from job to job has become the new standard. Indeed, 51 percent of people stay at a given job for less than two years.

That’s why interpersonal agility, or the ability to adapt to new social contexts, is essential. If you’re always changing jobs, you’ll always be working with new colleagues, bosses and CEOs.

The ability to rapidly integrate yourself into a new culture is crucial.

Followership improves companies and develops leadership.

For some people, the word “followership” is bound to have negative connotations. This should come as no surprise since we usually associate following with being underrated and underdeveloped. In organizational contexts, the word is barely used at all. But the concept of followership can add tremendous value to the work of any team, and it’s also bound to have a positive impact on corporations.

Just take the work of the American researchers Philip Podsakoff and Scott MacKenzie, who studied the impact of followership on the performance of teams in various industries, from insurance to paper, pharmaceuticals to food service.

Great followers get promoted faster, earn higher salaries and do more for their companies.

The successful businessman and former General Electric CEO Lawrence A. Bossidy says that, over time, great followers do more for an organization than great leaders. Why is that?

Well, if the employees on the frontlines – the salespeople and customer-service representatives – are great at following, they’ll have more successful careers. After all, success on the job is usually measured by rapid promotions and big bonuses, rewards that great followers easily obtain.

Good leaders know when to step back and let others take control.

Today, the primary role of leaders is to facilitate collaboration. And, as you’ve already learned, this job isn’t necessarily done by the senior manager, but can actually be taken on by other, lower-level team members.

But knowing exactly when to transfer leadership isn’t easy. In order to help you make this call, think of a basketball game:

Kernaussagen in Leadership is Half the Story

Über den Autor

Marc Hurwitz is the cofounder of and Chief Insight Officer for FlipSkills. He has a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and lectures at the University of Waterloo.

Samantha Hurwitz is the cofounder of and Chief Encouragement Officer for FlipSkills. She is a leadership and followership coach, as well as a consultant and trainer.