Chasing your dreams in reckless abandonment without regard to logic, reality, or the possibility of failure is something that totally impresses me, but in a team setting, it is not enough to chase your dreams. You have to inspire others to chase your dream with you, looking to you as their leader. They have to chase you.
I've followed a lot of leaders, and I've even been the leader from time to time. I've worked under some who are incredibly gifted at leading, and I would choose to follow them in a variety of situations in which they are experienced and knowledgeable, but there are very few who I would chase in any situation. These leaders could ask me to join them in chasing their dream to open a cheese factory or create chocolate koala bears to sell at zoos and I'd fall in line behind them like a duckling before they finished their explanation. Why do I follow one leader only on safe ground but will run across thin ice to chase another? I've asked myself the same question.
I think it boils down to more than the legitimacy of a leader's dream. It becomes an issue of character. I will drop everything to chase a person who leads with integrity and has my best interest, even if that means taking the heat for me sometimes. I want to chase someone who loves their followers, and I want to be someone that others want to chase. I think there is probably more to come on this subject as I think through being this person for a team of people this summer as a camp director...
In the meantime I'll need some audience participation: what must a leader do to make you want to chase his dream?
3 comments:
I think they have to have enthusiasm for wherever they are leading you. Confidence in themselves and what they believe in is essential. They can't be a dictator; they have to allow your input. That part is very important because it makes you have more of a connection with the goal/dream; therefore, you're more likely to invest all you have in them and their dream.
They must be chasing after something which is for the sake of others. There is nothing more attractive to me about a leader than when that person is going after something that is ultimately not for his or her own good. If the leader is running toward something out of some selfish motive, I certainly cannot follow. But when that person is giving their all because they care for others, and because they want to get the best for others out of whatever they are chasing, I will follow them anywhere.
Great leaders are humble leaders; the people who do not care much about themselves. These individuals will do anything for the sake of their people and for their cause. They will take bullets and bear burdens and will refuse to sink into despair even when it is clear to everyone else that the Titanic is sinking. Humility allows a leader to share the successes and take responsibility for the failures.
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