Followership or Followers-hip –DeMarco Banter

4ef3184130f14.preview-300About a year ago… a “colleague” came into the office and wanted to talk. He was concerned that I spoke a great deal about leadership and leadership development…but rarely spoke of followership. I had to ponder… and he was indeed correct…in so many situations we are leading in one direction and having to follow in another. Think of leading a squadron or a corporate division–you may be leading that squadron, but you have to answer to the Group Commander… who in turn answers to the Wing Commander…and so it goes. Followship is a huge issue and one we need to pay more attention to.

This morning I stumbled upon an article from Jeff Haden (another m100Group favorite) on discussing the 8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees… and thought… sounds a lot like followship to me.

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:

1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company (squadron, group, HQ), the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.









Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm. (thank you to all that have done this for me…not always fun, but HUGE!)




7. They like to prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn’t have leadership potential often possess a burning desire to prove other people wrong. (wow, love this one… so true and we need to capture this and use it)


8. They’re always fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow. (a.k.a: Status Quo sucks!)


Bottom line: Reading the above… I quickly realize…I am so blessed to work with and to have worked with some of America’s best…that do all 8 of the above everyday…and make it look easy. Thank you all for your service…

Oh and all the parenthetical comments are purely DeM Banter… not from Mr Haden. Read Jeff’s entire article here

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