This perspective on leadership will

probably be a little different than most of yours.  But, like I said earlier, part of my objective is simply to give you some things to think about.

The term ‘follower’ has always had a negative connotation about it.  Kids are urged by their parents from an early age to be ‘leaders’.  I think that in the desire to build leaders, we forget to teach kids how to follow.  And, when it’s the right time to follow.  I focused much more on following than on leading.  In a team setting, having followers is every bit as important as having leaders!  A team has to have kids that are willing to follow, kids that are willing to substitute their own attention for that of the team…….and this goes against everything they have been told since they were little.

Without followers, there would actually be no leaders.  A simplistic statement, yes.  But, one that is hugely important to building a team.

We didn’t vote on team captains for the past 10 to 12 years of my career.  I believed that leaders would be leaders without the label of ‘captain’.  I found that most 15-18 year old kids weren’t really mature enough to make decisions about who to put in a leadership….way too many other social factors always seemed to pop up, so I let the leadership process happen organically.

When needed, I would address leadership on an individual basis….if there was someone that I believed the other kids followed, but that individual maybe needed a little help leading, I would address it with them individually.  But, I spent lots and lots of time addressing the team as a whole on ‘following’.  It was usually disguised in terms like ‘accepting your role’ but it was certainly about following.