One of the key things I teach is how to lead a group of people. This seems like a very straight forward thing to do to the point of why anyone needs to be taught how to lead – surely it’s a natural process?

I’m afraid not. The ability to lead a group of people is one of the most misunderstood skills. Now, as a trainer of leadership I would say that – the old sales trick of persuading someone that something they see as simple is complex and therefore need help. And for some people leadership is natural to them and they don’t need help – great. Even if this is case you might find it interesting to confirm why you are a natural leader. For those that struggle or simply curious I’m going to explain how leadership works and how you can get better. Some of the points may even surprise you (they did me when I researched the subject and started to break things down) so have a read and let me know what you think.

You are not a leader

This is the first thing that you have to get your head around when you are thinking about leadership: you are not a leader. This might seem like an absurd think to say but it is true. The reason why it’s true is that you don’t get to decide if you are a leader – leadership is defined not by the leader but by followers.

Leaders are defined by followers not by a leader themselves

Lesson 1 – if you follow someone that some is a leader

What does this mean? Surely if I have a group of people that I lead then I’m a leader and if I asked people in that group who is their leader they will say me and, just to make sure, if I asked someone outside of the group who is the leader of the group they would also say me.

Nope. You may think you are the leader of the group, members of the group if asked are likely to say that you are their leader and, maybe, outsiders would also recognise you as the leader but sadly you may be fooling yourself. I’ll explain why.

What exactly is a leader?

Take a deep breath and imagine you have been taken back in time back to your school days, or BW (before work). In this place you don’t have a boss and you don’t get paid, you have no authority just your personality. Were you a leader then? Perhaps you were the captain of a team or put in charge when the teacher had to pop out of the room. The key thing here is that you were in the same social status as your fellow students – you had no power over them and power is a crucial thing with leadership but it’s not as straight forward as you first think.

Power is not essential for leaders

Lesson 2 – Power is not a fundamental element of leadership

To be clear on this we have to look at things differently. Unsurpringsly there are few books on how to be a great follower: leadership books are aimed at people that want to be or are leaders. However, by definition you can not be a leader without followers. A tiger isn’t a leader of a jungle as it works by itself. Wolfs have a pack leader because it had followers, same with every social group from ants to zebras.

Followers define leaders (and leaders may not know)

Lesson 3 – leaders generate followers

As leaders are defined by followers you get some very interesting situations that are worth considering when you are thinking about leadership. There are two main models of a leader and one in between.

1. Present (Alive) leader: a real person in the present time world – someone who exists now
2. Paper (Fictional) leader: a made up, fictional entity – someone who doesn’t exist
3. Legend leader: was maybe alive but not now but still generates followers

Present or Alive Leader

People who are alive and have followers are present leaders. Easy. For the most part present leaders can be seen creating things by other people present – in the real world. They can create anything – noise, writing, art, outcome anything that someone can recognise and be affected by it e.g. they can take part in a race where they come last or first (the lead part is defined by the follower), they can create a piece or art, or international business, or been seen picking up litter on the road. The key thing is they have a connection to people in real time.

The vast majority of people who work with a level of authority are called leaders: divisional, department, team etc. These are all likely to be managers they are not all likely to be leaders as they have no followers. When you are thinking about yourself as a leader think who follows you voluntarily. There is also the tricky subject of influence versus leadership which I’ll clarify later.

Paper or Fictional Leader

The idea of a present leader makes sense but what is a fictional leader? Surely no-one follows a fictional leader? Logically there is no reason for a leader to be real. Leaders are generated from followers. If an individual experience a person that they are influenced by then that entity is their leader. When the fictional leader says something (someone/thing behind the scenes is pulling the strings) then the followers will react. This is more common that you may expect especially in the age of social media where an electronic entity on a screen posts information to the public which people follow. These entities can act for good or ill but even that depends on the follower. Ask yourself or your friends how many people do you follow that you have actually met? This brings us on the grey area of dead leaders or legend leaders.

I see dead leaders – legends

One the the most common type of leader is the leader of legend, of mystery, of miracles. These are people that are likley to have existed (not fictional) and their actions and behaviours have been shared – the stuff of legends.

Legends are stories and sharing information about the past through stories is a fundamental human skill. To date we know of no other organism that can tell stories through generations. The historical stories are for three main reasons

1. Build a common identity through a common ancestral story – we are who we are as our mothers and fathers fought the other lot and won/lost
2. Create a common behavioural system based on symbols and rituals – the activities that we have done over and over bind a group together as they know what the activity is and recognise symbols that identify the group
3. Organise for future events – having a group identity helps to coordinate resources and even convince members to die for the group

You can see that leaders in these situations have a religious background where a person in the past did something and that thing created followers at the time who then convinced others to follow that person even when that person is no longer around. It is important to recognise that this person is not active and their story will have been taken down by someone else either at the time or even later. Legendary leaders often gain more followers when they do die as their work is captured in the positive. All followers see a leader in a positive light even if many people do not as can be seen after atrocities in human history.

All followers see the leader in a positive light

Lesson 4 – No one followers someone they don’t like

Let me give you some examples of the three types of leader. If I have the history off here please let me know

Present Leaders (not to be confused with good leaders)

Greta Thunberg – environmentalist. Very much alive and breathing. She has followers who are interested in environmental issues such as level of atmospheric carbon dioxide that creates increases in atmospheric temperatures, and environmental pollution affecting the quality of life for humans and other animals.

Donald J Trump – politician. Voted in a United States President in 2016. Seen as the leader of the US Republican Party yet holds no political office. Trump has transformed the values and policies of one the largest political parties despite not hold a majority favourable rating.

Colin Kaepernick – American Footballer. Seen as leader in highlighting social and criminal injustice for black people in the United States . Kaepernick’s position to not stand for the US national anthem before a football match but first sit then kneel has been taken up globally to highlight racial injustice. ‘Taking the knee’ is now viewed as symbol of racism in society.

Thunberg, Trump, and Kaepernick are present (non-fictional) leaders who’s influence of followers can change (increase, decrease) on their current actions. For example if Thunberg decided was found to be paid by an non-environmental organisation that went against the values she portrays then she would very likely lead to a loss of followers to the point of no followers therefore no longer a leader. Likewise Trump may change his political view and personal opinions – his followers would have to either agree with the new views and opinions or no longer follow him.

Legend Leaders (not to be confused with good leaders)

Important to note that here a legend is not something good but something that is historic and unverifiable (subjective). In the examples I give Iegendary leaders are ones that have died and who’s record is an inspirations for both good and bad actions. It’s important to highlight that leaders are not always good.

Winston Churchill – War time leader (May 1940 – July 1945). Churchill was seen by the British people as their leader during the Second World War as he took on a position to continue to fight Germany who had started conflicts with British allies starting with Poland. Churchill died in January 1965. For many people Churchill is a war time leader who heroically stood strong against the Nazis. People not be as aware of Churchill’s role in the disaster at Gallipoli (Turkey) in the First World War or his second term as Prime Minister from 1951 – 1955. Followers of Churchill even today will look to him as how to act in times of adversity, threat, and crisis.

Adolf Hitler – National and war time leader (1934 – 1945). On the opposite side of history from Churchill is Hitler who oversaw one of the deadliest wars and genocides of human history. Sadly to some Hitler and what he stood for is one that is attractive and therefore creates followers despite the heinous nature of his philosophy and where it takes people. You may be thinking Hitler is not a leader but a criminal and those that followed him then and now have something wrong with them. When it comes to leadership the only thing that creates the leader is the follower. To destroy the leader you have to ensure that the individual is not attractive and for people like Hitler education is crucial as followers will be a narrative that makes the leader appeal more attractive especially when they are dead.

The world of leaders is full of good and bad legendary leaders. Understanding why and how they influence is essential to understand how to interfere with the influence.

Religious Figures – all modern religions are based on a story of a man who acted in a certain way that created followers. These men had followers when they were alive and after with stories captured about their lives. The historic record of any of them is difficult to prove due to the level of documentation at the time especially that is impartial. As the individual is no longer alive and can not contribute or correct a story that is shared then they become legendary.

It is possible to have not been a leader whilst alive and then become a leader when they died. Many artists they not seen as leaders in their field became leaders only after their death and the value of their work identified. Remember: the only thing that defines a leader is they have followers – leadership is in the eye of the follower.

Fictional Leaders

Fictional leaders are ones that have never existed but where created. In a historical sense these are people of mythology: Merlin the Wizard and King Arthur, Jason and the Argonauts, etc. These historical leaders are no longer as they have little to no followers in the same way that Harry Potter is not a leader but has fans. In present time fictional leaders can be more subversive powered by internet social media platforms.

QAnon – Followers of QAnon believe that ‘Q’ is a real person and is sharing information about the United States government that promotes lies about the Democratic Party along with other groups that are seen as liberal. There is no evidence that Q is a real person instead is a collection of ‘Anon’ anonymous accounts promoting misinformation and confusion but resonates with a group of people. As Q is not a real person the leader has the ability to take on many forms and promote ideas ideas that are hard to challenge but easy to promote. In these circumstance the followers will have a very strong attraction to the leader through group interaction and confirmation. The leader becomes a simple symbol with beliefs that the followers believe in.

As a reminder fictional leaders are not the same as cult leaders like Charles Mason, David Koresh, or Marshall Applewhite. These where all present leaders with followers with such strong connections they obeyed the leader to commit horrific crimes or to take their own lives

These three types of leader are defined by the followers. For the vast majority of people and for the rest of this book I will only refer to present leaders which you either are or are interested in being.

Next 4 Influences of Leadership.