Video Transcription:

To be a leader, you need followers. You may have a leader title, but if no one’s following you, are you really a leader? Let that sink in for a minute.

Have you ever stopped to reflect, and ask yourself, “Why would anyone want to follow me?”

Great leaders spend time thinking about why others would willingly choose to follow them. Sure, you can use your title and power to yield control. Or you can be the type of leader that people want to follow, regardless of your title.

How do you get followers? Well, think of the leaders you followed. Why did you follow them? Was it out of fear? Was it because of their job title? Was it because they inspired you? Was it because they made you feel important and valued? Was it because they cared about you as a person and your career growth? Or was it something else?

Being deliberate about planning your presence is the fastest way of gaining followers. Remember, people can often forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel when they were in your presence.

So, let me share an example. I’m currently coaching a leader who’s working hard to improve her team’s engagement and her leadership effectiveness.

After getting some input and feedback from her team and her peers, she was shocked to learn that people felt unheard, dismissed, and really frustrated because she seemed preoccupied and always rushed in every conversation.

Things improved when she became open to coaching with me, and she made the decision to be more deliberate about learning how to be disciplined and showing up fully present. After a few months of consistent practice, her peers and her team reported that they felt more seen, more heard, and more understood, which, of course, made them feel more valued and important. The difference: She was there — she was fully there with people rather than disappearing into herself, which we all do as humans.

Rather than listening to her own inner voice chatter, thinking about what people were talking about or saying, “I heard this before” in her head, or letting her mind just drift to other things. She really disciplined herself to learn to focus fully on the person right in front of her. To truly inspire others to follow us, we have to be deliberate about planning our presence.

It doesn’t come naturally — we need to be intentional about having people feel seen, heard, valued, and important. A survey of 2000 employees with Bain and Company found the most effective leadership traits include creating a compelling vision, expressing and communicating ideas clearly, and being receptive to input. The ability to be fully present with people is the most essential skill of effective leaders.

Research also shows us that there’s a direct correlation between the leaders’ presence and the well-being and performance of their team. In other words, the more leaders are fully present with people, the better those people will perform.

So if you want more followers, and you want to inspire them to follow you from choice, since they are the ones who will make your team, your business and you more successful, you need to learn to be deliberate about planning your presence.

So, if this has got you thinking about cultivating a leadership style and a presence that attracts more followers, that’s what I do. So reach out to me if you want to learn more about my coaching programs that can lead you to greater leadership, effectiveness, and success. I hope this helps, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.