Courage to assume responsibility for yourself

1. Courage to assume responsibilityfor yourself • Courageous followers do not wait for performance reviews; they assess their own performance (see example p. 37). • Clamming up when a leader interrupts us in a raised voice serves us and the leader poorly. Tolerating disrespect for our voice and views will reinforce the behavior and weaken the relationship.

2. p.37-38 • “By assuming responsibility for our organization and its activities, we can develop a true partnership with our leader and sense of community with our group. This is how we maximize our own contribution to the common purpose. Assuming responsibility requires courage because we then become responsible for the outcomes – we can’t lay the blame for our action or inaction elsewhere. But before we can assume responsibility for the organization, we must assume responsibility for ourselves”

3. Unless and until you assume full responsibility for yourself, you force others to assume responsibility for you

4. Followership style (from pp 42-43) • Partner: high support, high challenge • Risk taker, purpose driven, holds self and others accountable, confronts sensitive issues, peer relations with authority • Implementer: high support, low challenge • Dependable, supportive, defender, team oriented, compliant, respectful of authority • Individualist: low support, high challenge • Confrontational, self-assured, independent thinker, self-marginalizing, unintimidated by authority • Resource: low support, low challenge • Present, uncommitted, executes minimum requirements, makes complaints to third parties, avoids the attention of authority.

5. Partner followers don’t “dump” on leaders • “This sucks (and so do you) and YOU need to fix it. What’s wrong with you?” • Partner followers challenge the leader, but also try to share responsibility with the leader for correcting the situation • “This does not seem to be working and I think we can do better. Have you considered these alternatives/options? Here is what I would be willing to do to help.”

6. Eliciting feedback • Encourage honest feedback from your leader • Remain interested and avoid becoming defensive in order learn crucial things about ourselves and our leader • Focus on performance and behavior – things that you can control and change

7. Personal growth: confronting our “dark side” and dealing with the emotions of knowing our weaknesses. Urge toward growth is in a contest with our urge to protect our self-image. • Self-management (get organized!) • Taking care of ourselves • Do your job, don’t become your job • No good to anyone if you burnout • Passion – genuine concern for the common purpose. By excelling we fulfill ourselves and earn the right to help shape the organization’s future. • Initiative • Control shifts from the leader to the purpose; we don’t need to ask permission to act in ways that advance the purpose

8. Influencing the culture • Willingness to stand out, to demonstrate differing attitudes, not as a challenge to the group but simply as an expression of our own outlook and vision, adds strength to the organization. • Modeling alternative behaviors in a nonconfrontational mode establish their integrity and earn the group’s respect.

9. Breaking the rules • Rules are guidelines for using the group’s resources. • Rules are subordinate to purpose. • Rules and ethics • When should rules be broken? How?

10. Breaking the mindset • Be prepared (see p. 54), and be willing to go the highest levels of leadership • Improving the process • Stop thinking its not your problem. Realize it is your responsibility. • Remedying a specific service complaint helps retain the individual customer’s loyalty, but remedying the process that caused it saves the loyalty of many • Courageous followers don’t just tell the leader “something should be done about this,” adding to the burden of leadership, but present ideas for improving the process that the leader can consider.