~ Written from the POV of a CEO.
I do not believe in the concept of followers being those who cannot think or are not allowed to, or those who blindly follow someone and do not have ideas of their own. Followers, for me, are those who make a leader what he is – their faith and beliefs shape the leader’s ideology. They need not always agree with what he has to say and be bold enough to put forth their opinions.
As a CEO at a rather young age, one question I am asked quite often is “What is the function of a good leader?” Is it producing more leaders? Or just followers? And I always find myself saying this one thing – Why not both?
It is the responsibility of a leader to inspire his followers to think, to question and also to come up with solutions, instead of brainwashing them into thinking he is the superior one, and that they should always obey him. The very aim of a good leader, is to produce such followers. He should also always learn from them, for a leader is himself a follower. He should also understand and accept that he is nothing without his followers.
A good leader is someone who understands the strengths and weaknesses of his followers, someone who sees the qualities they possess, be it leadership or something else – and guides them to the path of success. Hence, he should not be obliged to produce leadership, but should always look out for such qualities and if found, encourage them to grow.
I strongly believe that not everyone can be a good leader and it should never be a leader’s responsibility to produce more leaders or even followers for that matter, but, it is to keep doing what he ought to do – to see the skills in people and encourage them, help them get closer to their goals, and in this process produce more followers or even more leaders. The sole responsibility of a leader, I believe, is guiding his people and working towards the betterment of his society.
I feel a leader should never produce blind followers but at the same time make sure he’s not giving out the wrong message and giving rise to leadership which does not benefit the people, because leaders are the ones who hold the responsibility of either making or breaking this world.
Therefore I’m of the opinion that a good leader should always look out for talents and skills of leadership but never be compelled to produce more leaders, and also produce followers who have their opinions and thoughts instead of those who blindly follow the herd.