Robert Burnside is an executive coach with 20 years of experience. He resides on his farm in New Zealand. His focus is leadership, and critical clients are country managers of multinational organisations or entrepreneurs.
The follower defines leadership. What do people need in the followership?
The key component is empathy. Empathy has two parts: affective empathy or emotional empathy. Cognitive empathy means seeing something from another person’s viewpoint. What the Leader needs is strong cognitive empathy.
Cognitive empathy is difficult for most people to do. It can be hard work. It is a conscious decision a leader makes.
What is your customer’s buy-in?
What does the audience need during a presentation?
Authenticity is another critical component. Authenticity means not pretending, not virtue signalling. Working out what your values are and leading and living the values.
The honest self can have many authentic faces.
Spin and manipulation are things that are the opposite of authentic.
To build followership, the Leader must build authenticity.
An authentic and empathetic leader has a direct, honest, transparent relationship with the leadership team. Share information promptly so that all the leaders have the best chance to be successful.
After the common values are established between the CEO and the leadership team, it is important to evaluate if there is a match between the agreed values and the personal values. If there is a misalignment, then the Leader needs to be “riding a different horse”. Values are a fundamental building block.
A CEO needs to push the key messages through the leaders to the broader organisation.
Listening is a skill that usually needs to be learned. Empathy is a tool of listening. Listening does not mean doing or acting on what the person says. However, by listening, you gain insight into the varied opinions and the people.
