You should never lead until you have followed first.
Why Follow First?
LinkedIn Workplace learning report indicates approximately 366 billion dollars is being spent annually on leadership training, but almost nothing is spent on the 80% of the employees actually doing the work.
Harvard Business School Research shows 95% of senior executives actually spend their day acting as a follower. Only 23% have had even minimal followership training.
Corporate Executive Board (CEB) found approximately 60% of first-time managers fail within the first two years due to not being properly prepared when they were in follower roles.
A recent 2022 study published in the Frontiers in Psychology found when followers are skilled, engaged, and empowered (rather than passive or disengaged), the organization becomes more agile, innovative, resilient, and efficient.
Do you really want to fix your organization? Stop focusing on your leaders and start teaching your people how to follow first.