" Top Expressions Leaving Unmoved Natural Leaders, but Unnoticed by Followers"
Natural leaders and followers play distinct roles in organizations, each offering unique qualities that contribute to team efficiency and success.
- Natural Leaders
- Vision and Initiative: Leaders are proactive, taking charge, and guiding teams toward shared objectives. They are driven by a vision, inspiring commitment from followers [1][5].
- Influence and Motivation: Leader's ability to motivate and persuade aids in generating buy-in and fostering innovation [1][5].
- Adaptability and Resilience: Leaders show adaptability in challenging times, setting a tone for resilience that supports team progress [2][3].
- Responsibility and Persistence: Leaders take on both successes and failures, demonstrating unwavering commitment [4][5].
- Decision-Making: Comfortable with ambiguity, leaders make decisions confidently, often under pressure [1][3].
- Empathy and Interpersonal Skills: Effective leaders connect with team members, responding to their needs and emotions [5].
- Followers
- Teamwork and Collaboration: Followers collaborate smoothly with colleagues, resolving issues while minimizing leader intervention [2].
- Adaptability: Followers respond adeptly to changes, problem-solving independently and filling skill gaps as needed [2][4].
- Organization and Communication: Followers maintain productivity through efficient communication and collaboration, ensuring the team continues functioning optimally [2].
- Initiative in Role: While followers may not set direction, they contribute ideas and support leadership decisions [2][4].
- Characteristics Influencing Autonomy: Some followers prefer structure, while others seek autonomy, with preferences often linked to individual personality and experience [4].
Several phrases may potentially offend natural leaders due to their inherent drive for autonomy, innovation, and responsibility, while likely leaving followers unphased:
- "Just follow the instructions; don't worry about the details."
- This could bother leaders, who prefer to grasp the bigger picture and are disinclined to accept being told not to question or analyze.
- "You don’t need to be involved in this decision."
- Excluding leaders from decision-making may frustrate them, as they feel sidelined from contributing in meaningful ways.
- "Just do what you're told."
- Telling someone to simply follow orders undermines a leader's autonomous and innovative nature.
- "There’s no room for your ideas here."
- This sentence might stifle leaders, who thrive on contributing and innovating.
- "Let someone else handle it."
- Reducing their role in responsibilities could make leaders feel less trusted and limited in their capacity to take on tasks.
Effective organizations understand the importance of both leadership and followership qualities. An ideal workplace capitalizes on these traits to create a harmonious and productive team [2].
[1] CPRW Writer. (2021, March 4). 15 Superpower traits of people who are natural-born leaders. Medium. https://medium.com/cpwrwriter/15-superpower-traits-of-people-who-are-natural-born-leaders-49a85063b856
[2] Horowitz, I., & Suedfeld, P. (2014). My leadership style: Follower. Current directions in psychological science, 22(3), 197–203. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413516851
[3] Matthews, G. E., & Stark, R. T. (2016). Leadership resilience: Ask the right questions! Journal of Leadership Studies, 13(3), 20–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427172.2016.1223989
[4] Murray, A. (2016, May 26). How personality affects your behavior. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reality-based-leadership/201605/how-personality-affects-your-behavior
[5] Suzuki, R., & Shteynberg, N. (2020). Emotionally intellligent leadership: In the best interest of all. Journal of Business and Management, 25(2), 363–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/1749078X.2019.1609532
- A natural leader interested in personal growth may seek education and self-development materials on topics like psychology, leadership, and emotional intelligence to aid in refining their leadership style.
- In seeking lifestyle and fashion-and-beauty inspiration, followers can find many stories of individuals who, following their own paths, have shown growth and independence, offering a relatable perspective and proving that empathy and interpersonal skills can be cultivated over time.
- Encouraging both leaders and followers to embrace their unique qualities and learn from one another fosters a harmonious work environment conducive to positive growth and success, moving beyond traditional definitions of leadership and followership roles in organizations.