It is popular to blame leaders for the state of affairs in organizations, communities, nations, and the world, particularly when things don’t go the way we want. If the US Supreme Court makes a ruling we like, then they are showing leadership, but if they make one we don’t like, they are failing to lead. The same can be said for President Obama, Speaker Boehner, any Senator, etc. Simply put, we blame our current state of affairs (good, bad, or ugly) on leaders. But this blame hides the lie in leadership.
There is no leadership without followership. Said differently, whenever there is a “failure of leadership”, there is a corresponding “failure of followership”. When Speaker Boehner accuses President Obama of not leading (or vice versa), what he is really saying is “I am not following”. But to say “I not following” takes responsibility and makes one accountable for their actions. To say “s/he is not leading” absolves me of responsibility and gets me off the hook – better to be a victim and blame their lack of leadership than responsible for my lack of followership.
The lie in leadership is that leadership somehow causes followership and makes things happen without followership. It doesn’t. Followership is a choice we each make and we are responsible for who and what we follow.
