Leadership and Followership in a Team Setting

Many solopreneurs work in a team environment either with their client's staff, or with subcontractors. Having spent over 20 years in a teaming environment before becoming a solopreneur 13 years ago, I know that during the course of any highly functioning team effort, the leadership and followership roles flow back and forth between the members.

An observer of such a team would see that at any moment, the person on the team who has either information, wisdom, or creativity to offer steps quietly forward to assume the leadership position. After she has delivered her knowledge to the group, she then steps quietly back into the role of a follower, as the next person slips into the leadership position. This ebb and flow of leadership and followership is one of the hallmarks of a highly-functioning and productive team.

"So you did this just because all your friends did it? If all your friends laid down on the tracks in front of a train, I suppose you would too? Do you want to be a follower all your life?" --