Loyalty

Loyalty...such a menial trait in today's world.  It seems as if loyalty is a passing theme.  Nobody ever wants to be loyal past their own selfish desires.  We no longer care about the big picture nor do we care about sticking around and helping the "big picture" come to pass.  We are only as loyal as our own comfort levels allow us to be.  We have reached a point where it doesn't matter what the goal is or how far we've gotten toward the goal, if our feelings or pride is hurt, or we feel like the side we're on stopped being the right side we will up and quit and move on. 

In the book of Revelation Jesus says "I would that you were hot or cold, but since you are lukewarm I will spew you out of my mouth."  This hot or cold that he wants you to be is loyal to something beyond your comfort level.  But nowadays we are lukewarm.  We try not to commit to anything just in case it's the wrong choice.  We decide to quit at the slightest sign of trouble or struggle.  This is hurting us in the long run though.  There are so many blogs and articles saying it's alright to quit.  We are destroying our future due to our inability to stay "in it" for the long run. 

I notice this trend in all areas of life.  Leaders are only good as long as they're pleasing the people.  Once that goes out the window then we throw leaders under the bus.  We as a people have made it to where leaders must be loyal to us instead of us being loyal to them.  We place unreachable standards on them and crucify them when they don't live up to them.  We need to stop this or else how will we teach our children about loyalty.  How can we train our kids to stay committed to something bigger than themselves if we are unwilling to.  We show our kids that it's alright to place great burdens on leaders and if they can't maintain their composure then we can bring them down.

I read in a book, I think it was called the mind of the samurai, that water chooses a path and sticks to it.  When we choose to follow someone or choose to join an organization, or choose to get married, we need to learn how to stay committed to our choices through the good and the bad.  Our loyalty should not only be to the people we decide to follow or commit to, but our loyalty should be to our commitment also.  If you can't be loyal to your commitments or your word then can you even call yourself loyal, and if not loyal trustworthy?

In Followership: Don’t get brought down by backstabbers

If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and you’re loyal to the organization then backstabbers can’t hurt you too much.  There are always going to be people that are opposed to you or what you’re trying to do.  They may not realize that that’s what they’re doing.    Sometimes people will set you up for failure by mentioning something you may have said to the wrong person.  Not all backstabbing is intentional, but it happens all the same.  The thing about working with people in an organization that you’re not in charge of is you will most likely end up being competition instead of a fellow laborer in the mission at hand.  We all, at one point or another, look at our coworkers or peers in whatever organization that we’re in as competition.  This is natural.  So we all, at one point or another, do something that can be perceived as throwing somebody under the bus or backstabbing, even if we were just trying to cover up something that we may have said or done.

We cannot let this type of stuff get us down, for the simple fact that most of the time it’s unintentional, and even when it is intentional, what can you really do about it.  We should be focused on how we carry ourselves around our peers and what we say so that when there is a misunderstanding or something is said about us to our boss that it isn’t true.  For example one time at work somebody told my boss that I was lazy because I didn’t do something that wasn’t in my job description nor was it something that I had training on.  I was upset at first but when it was brought to my attention, I was able to pass along the truth of the matter.  I didn’t go start an argument, and I didn’t let it bother me to the point that it would create any tension in the workplace.  I just let it go.  These things happen; we cannot let them affect our performance or attitude at work.  We need to just let it go, learn from it but let it go.

 I say let it go because these situations will occur more frequently throughout our career than we would like.  We can’t get upset and allow ourselves to be stressed every time it happens.  Instead we should use it as a learning experience.  We learn by knowing who not to talk to about certain things, who to speak with on a strictly professional basis, who to stay away from…etc.  Every time I feel betrayed by somebody I have to take a step back and replay the whole situation.  Usually it’s innocent.  Most people don’t realize what they’ve said could bring negative consequences to somebody else, or we don’t say “please don’t repeat this but” things just have a way of getting away from us.  As I said, we’ve done it to others just as they’ve done it to us.  We shouldn’t feel betrayed.  A part of being a follower is maintaining a certain level of discipline no matter what comes our way.  We are not the organization, but a part of the organization, we are not in charge but subordinate to somebody else.  So for us to cause tension or make a scene because we feel betrayed is disrespecting the organization and the people that are leading us. 

In the Bible God says that what you do to the least of these you do to me, and what you don’t do to the least of these you don’t do to me.  It’s the same in an organization, if somebody lies on you then they’re lying on the organization, but if they are pointing out a flaw then that’s a flaw in the organization.  We cannot carry ourselves as an individual when involved in something bigger than ourselves.  We must see the bigger picture always.  If somebody went behind our back and it was true then that is good for the collective.  I know this is easier said than done, and I probably wouldn’t want to look at it this way if I was the person going through this.  But it is a lesson that we must learn.  We were hired to do a specific role in an organization with a certain vision.  If we can’t live up to the role or if it comes out that we’re not living up to the role then the part that we play is in jeopardy of failing, which completely contradicts the purpose of us being there.  This must be exposed, so that the problem can be fixed.  We can’t take it personally. 

The only thing we can do to combat this is to be blameless.  As I said we must do what we know to do so that if somebody stabs us in the back we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing and it shows.  We as followers need to always have proof that we’re doing our job to the standard that was established prior to us showing up, or even at a higher standard than was established.  We must make ourselves a valuable part of our organization so that if somebody says something bad about us, it’ll be looked at by our leaders as a misunderstanding instead of a fact.  We need to remove any future doubt by our present work. 

In Leadership: Followership

We live in a time where although people are starting to touch on followership more and more, they are still primarily focusing on leadership.  There are more books on how to be a great leader then there are on how to support a great leader, or even worse, a bad leader.  These are principles that need to be taught in more forums across the business spectrum.  In the military we got taught a great deal about being a good leader and nothing really about being a follower.  We did get taught about following orders to a certain degree, but they weren’t teaching seminars on it.  We don’t really realize how to be a follower until we become a leader.  But by then it’s all about our ideas and us trying to figure out ways to move our organization forward.  We get taught what to do if we run into a troubled subordinate, but not what to do if we run into a horrible boss.  This is damaging to so many people’s careers.  There are people who have gotten kicked out of the military and fired from jobs because they were never taught how to follow somebody that they didn’t see eye to eye with.  So instead of being able to cope with the situation with a level head they rebel.  This is the generation that we live in.  We get told to shut up and color, or just do the work, but not how to do it with the stress of dealing with an idiot.  But it’s so important for us to learn how to follow that it should be taught as thoroughly as leadership is.  This is actually something that should be taught in high school, or throughout Jr. High School, before people reach the work force.   If you don’t learn how to be a follower until you show up for your first job then it’s going to be a rough road ahead, which is something many of us find out the hard way.

We do get taught some forms of followership from a very young age though.  We get taught how to follow rules by our parents, we get taught about not showing up late, and how to turn in assignments on time in school.  We learn how to respect authority all though life from our parents to teachers and people in uniform, and yet we still never fully grasp the concept of being a follower.  As we grow up we also get taught to be our own person, to be a leader and not a follower, to set the example, that we can be whatever it is we want to be as long as we set our minds to it.  But we can only be by learning how, and only learn how by following.  We need to stop telling our kids to not be followers, that puts a stigma on submitting to authority figures and our future bosses.  Instead we need to tell them to not follow people that are going nowhere, or people that are getting into trouble.  We need to tell them that we must be mentored in order to accomplish our goals, and that without being mentored, or following we will never be what we want to be because people won’t waste their time on somebody that they can’t train. 

Being a follower isn’t negative when it’s done in the proper setting, in this post I’m not talking about followers of criminal organizations, or followers of people whose life is on a self destructive road to oblivion.   Instead I’m talking about being a follower in an organization that will lead you on the road to success or self improvement or community involvement.  In this case being a follower is positive.  It causes you to be recognized as a team player, a person who can receive instruction and get the job done, somebody who is not afraid of correction because they know the end result is the building up of the organization.   When we are able to follow we are showing that we know we don’t know everything but we are willing to learn.

As a follower we must be ready, willing and able to always have the back of the person or people leading us.  No matter what our feelings are towards these people.  We cannot let personal feelings get in the way of doing the job that’s laid before us.  We do not come on board with an opinion.  If we have a negative opinion about our leaders to the point that we can’t do a good job or refuse to do the job then we need to move out of the way so somebody else can do the job.  We have to know that we are serving something bigger then ourselves and the overall accomplishment of whatever task we were given is what’s important.  Too many times we as followers try to put ourselves above the person or people leading us.  But the problem is we’re not the leader so we are only working against ourselves when we do this.

When we are being led, we need to know that if we come up with an idea that the idea should be in line with the vision of the organization and be prepared to either have in depth details on our idea or do the idea to have something that worked so we can present it.  We also cannot be hurt if our ideas are rejected, because the completion of the mission or the furtherance of the vision is what’s important not our ideas. 

Followers must be able to build a rapport with the leader or leaders.  It is the job of the person following to make sure that the people or person in charge is comfortable with you, not the other way around.  When we are in a subordinate role it is our responsibility to prove our trustworthiness.  If you can’t trust your leadership then you’re in the wrong organization.  If your leadership can’t trust you then it’s your problem to solve.  We must be a person that when the people that we follow think of us they think of somebody that is willing to get the job done at all costs.  Not somebody that will try to get away with murder.

As followers we must be able to work well with others.  It doesn’t matter what somebody has done to us, or who we don’t like, for the sake of the corporate body that we’re apart of we must get along.  When we show up we need to put aside all differences of opinion and work to achieve one common goal.  If you are unwilling to do this then the people you work for might be unwilling to trust you or unwilling to keep you employed.  We must remember our feelings are not what’s important. 

We must learn to follow with a form of dignity and selflessness that will show others that we are here to do what’s required of us, not here to cause a problem for those around us or above us. 

Feelings

I've talked about feelings in previous posts and a little bit in my book.  This is my pet peeve, people that are led by their feelings.  We all do it from time to time, but some people do it a little more than they should.  Feelings have no place on the job or in any environment where people come together to achieve a common goal.  By feelings I'm talking about negative feelings.  I'm not talking about compassion, or love, or anything of that nature, I'm talking about hate, envy, anger, depression...etc.  Feelings that can disrupt forward progress.  We as leaders cannot let feelings dictate the way we operate.  Not only can this lead to an ethical dilemma but it can severly hinder the momentum of the mission at hand. 

Too many times I've seen forward progress halted because of the way somebody was feeling.  I've had to pull subordinates aside and let them know the world doesn't stop because they're angry or sad.  Life goes on regardless of how we feel.  This is why we cannot let how we feel enter into the work place.  When you do it will change the way people feel about you and even worse about your organisation.  It's bad enough when people within your organisation knows that you're unstable but when people outside your organization sees it they might not see you but who you work for.  Then that will inadvertantly change the overall view that people have about your organisation.  This is why it's also imperative that as leaders we don't let those working for us and our peers operate like this.  We must nip this in the bud.  We can't baby people or let people bring their personal issues to work.  If we do we'll allow a precedent that will be hard to break. 

If people know that you're not led by your feelings and they know that you don't except it in the work place it will slow down this way of thinking and acting.  People act the way they're allowed to act.  If somebody knows that all it takes to get attention or get sent home early is to have a breakdown and start crying then they'll do it.  But if people know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated then they will think twice before falling victim to their emotions.  Because at the end of the day it's either allow our emotions to drive us or accomplish what needs to be done.