Last July, I wrote a post about the dancing man (a popular YouTube video), and some leadership lessons from it.  This morning I read (and saw) Derek Siver’s TED talk from this week based on the same video.

(If you would like to read the transcript of Derek’s talk, you can find it here.)

Derek makes excellent points here about the role of a leader and the role of followers – including the importance of the first follower.  this all gets at an important message for us as leaders . . .

Leadership isn’t a role.  We are only leading if someone is following.

All of us with the title of leader, or manager, or supervisor, or executive (etc.) should read this daily.

Look around.  Are people following?

If so, are you leading in the direction of your vision?

And if no one is following, ask yourself, why not?

Which suggests a second important leadership lesson . . .

Leadership, at its best is about the followers.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He has spent over 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.

Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference. The American Management Association named him a “Leaders to Watch” and he has been twice named as one of the World's Top 30 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus. Top Sales World has named him a Top Sales & Marketing Influencer several times, and his blog has been named on many “best of” lists. LeadersHum has named him one of the 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2023.

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