6th Station – Inspiring, Motivating and enabling Followership
Setup:
You need to be online (with audio) to watch some TED Talks and have a pen and paper to hand to capture your thoughts. Have the Discovering a Spirit of Leadership resource sheet to hand and a marker pen to play TED Talks Bingo.
Introduction:
Is a leader still a leader if they don’t have followers? Can we assume that by definition the role of leader necessitates that there is a community or organisation to lead? But how do you achieve a fellowship? Is it gained through title and status or is it achieved through the art of persuasion? We only need turn to social media to understand that anyone has the potential to become a leader, an influencer, if they can only inspire and motivate others to follow. And what does this mean for the followers? Are we passive participants in someone else’s vision or active changemakers in our own right, coming together to create a movement or start a trend?
Watch and Learn:
Watch all three TED Talks below and consider the following questions (make notes).
- Who creates a movement or trend? Is it the leaders or followers? What role does each play and who has the power?
- Do you agree with Suli Breaks that we don’t need new leaders, but instead new ideas?
- How did David Marquet persuade his followers to share a commitment to leadership? What effect did it have?
- What role does vision play in effective leadership?
- How do leaders make their vision a reality?
As you watch the videos listen out for mention of the 12 Round Square Discoveries and mark them off as you hear them. If you get a “full house” jump out of your chair and scream to surprise your family:
Leader is made by First Follower
Follow the leader | Suli Breaks
Suli Breaks is one the UK’s leading spoken word poets who captivates audiences and peers alike with his phenomenal wordplay.
David Marquet – What is Leadership?
As the Captain of a nuclear submarine, David Marquet created Intent-based Leadership. He is a nationally recognised speaker and authored the Amazon bestseller Turn the Ship Around.
Consolidate your learning with a task:
In the film ‘Leader is made by the first follower’, we learnt that even the daftest idea can be given momentum through the actions of first followers when they dare to join in. We’re going to test the theory in the only way we can… with a silly idea. Let’s see if we can create a collective vision of the world across our community through Round Square eyes.
Use the Round Square glasses template (or freestyle with a design of your own), to make a pair of wacky Round Square glasses of your very own – we’re looking for colourful, crazy, inventive and imaginative. This is an art/ craft project but you may need to get creative with whatever resources you have to hand wherever in the world you are. If you have access to paints, crayons or other arts and crafts supplies, now is the time to use them. If not, then try using whatever natural or recycled resources you can find in and around your home to decorate your glasses.
Sharing your Round Square glasses:
You are invited to post a photo of them being modelled by someone or something in your home and tag us using @RoundSquare or #throughRSeyes.