First Follower

Bill Clebsch (Associate Vice President IT Services, Stanford University) shared this link with me, and I'd like to share it with you. The concept is the "first follower". Being a leader takes a willingness to stand apart, to take risks - but so does the "first follower", aka the "early adopter".

Early adopters, or first followers, set themselves apart from the crows, to do something different. Watch this video of a dancing guy, who eventually gets an entire crowd to dance with him, as one example of a leader, the first follower, and what it takes to get people to join in.

Some key points:

  1. To be a leader, nurture your followers as equals.
  2. Make it about the followers, not you.
  3. Be public.
  4. Be easy to follow.
  5. Leadership is over-glorified; there is no "movement" without the first follower.