Over the past two weeks we have thought of leadership as it relates to tractors and terminators.  This week I’d like us to think of leadership as it relates to trains and ducks.

If you watch a train cross the tracks you first see the engine.  Then you see all of the cars following the engine.  At first glance you could argue that the engine then must be the leader.  After all, the train is strong, powerful, and leading the way.  If you really think about it though, the engine just pulls the cars along.  They follow, because they have to.  Think of all of the supervisors you have had.  How many of them pulled you along without ever really being a leader?

Now think of ducks swimming in a pond almost single file.  There is a duck in the front and all of the other ones are following, moving in the same direction.  There is not a tether or any device forcing them to go along, so why do they?  Why do they willingly follow?  The answer is simple, but not easy.  It’s because the duck in the front has proven that he or she is worth following.

I bring this up, because often we ask, “What makes a leader?”  We answer that question by listing traits and skills.  These things are important, but having these traits and skills doesn’t necessarily make someone a leader.  The thing that makes a leader is people who are willing to follow.  Instead of always thinking about traits and skills, we should focus on figuring out what we can do to make ourselves worth following.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry