Who’s leading the leader?
That sounds like a strange question, doesn’t it? Perhaps at first. But think about it. An argument could be made that every leader is also a follower – of someone, or something. Leaders don’t just “arrive” without having been influenced in their growth; nor is that likely to cease once their leadership is established.
I can envision a leadership “family tree”. I can think about the leaders in my life and trace it back to those that led them, back through generations of leaders.
Here’s why I think this is important: If you want to assess someone’s leadership potential and get an idea to what ends they are leading, all you have to do look up the tree and see what their leaders were about. Find a great leader and you’ll find a series of great leaders that preceded him or her. Find a bad leader, and the pattern will hold true.
So, as a leader, who are you following? And who did they follow?