Influence up
“Don’t think of it as leading up the chain of command but INFLUENCING up the chain of command.” This was a great nugget that I pulled from the First Responder Training this week that Echelon Front put on was this. Jason Gardner brought this point up and it really spoke to me in a way that I needed to hear.
I’m terrible at followership, it’s easily one of my worst attributes. I think one of the barriers to me getting better is how daunting the term “Leading Up” is, what does that even mean and can’t you really do that? I’ve allowed the wording to scare me off and to be my excuse.
Bottom line, I was lying to myself because I didn’t want to be uncomfortable working on being a better follower. They were also lies that helped me justify disrespect and negativity towards my bosses. All of that of course is wrong and deeply embarrassing to me. The same guy that preaches being humble was sitting on a very arrogant throne.
No matter what we disagree on or what I’m frustrated with these are people that deserve to be treated kindness. I have no idea what difficult decisions they make everyday or what political games they have to play to keep the department afloat so why would I think I have the right to judge them for the choices they’ve made. I need to be better, and this is where I’ll start.
I believe the difference between a divided organization and a United organization are relationships. That seems to be a pretty obvious answer but one that sometimes isn’t so easy to achieve. The cure is in the little things, stopping in just to say hi and talk about family and home life or dropping in for a short visit to see if there is anything they need. Someone has to do the right thing and become humble enough to take steps in the right direction. The Golden Rule doesn’t only apply with people that I agree with.
Followership is hard (if that’s even a word because spell check doesn’t seem to like it) but it is so vital to an overall leadership package. Always be looking for ways to level up your leadership and if this is an area that you’re weak in than what can you do about it to become better?
