So there you are, a leader in your firm trying to get others to follow you. How’s that going? Ask yourself whereabouts on this scale your team members typically are:

• Resisting?
• Apathetic?
• Grudging compliance?
• Willing compliance?
• Enrolled?
• Committed?

My suggestion is that, unless you have at least got as far as enrollment, you will be finding it tough to get stuff done. Without enrollment, all the energy is coming from you. The others are just coming along for the ride.

So how do you get your team motivated and engaged? I’ve received the following responses from leaders to this question:

• I need to provide a clear goal and a well-defined path
• I need to spend time building their self-confidence
• We need to have mutual trust
• They need to feel I have their best interests in mind
• I need to be credible, with appropriate knowledge and experience
• There needs to be joint ownership – it helps to encourage co-invention
• The work needs to be seen as valuable – what’s in it for them should be clear

These all seem valid thoughts. Leaders need the right skills and attitude to be successful in creating followship.

Leaders need intellectual and physical energies to get things done but also an interest in building relationships with team members and also a passion to inspire others.

What creates this passion? For some it’s just a question of looking inside and asking the question ‘what’s really important to me?’ For others it may be to receive more validation that your goals are worthwhile and achievable.

For many the risk of failure is their worst enemy. That’s where the culture in your firm might be the issue!