Topic: Leadership
Extract from Canadian Army Training Memorandum, No. 30, September 1943
Major General Worthington—4 Cdn Div once said "What I want is some good FOLLOW-ship, not so much LEADER-ship."
Here is the same idea, given by the 2 Bn Lincoln and Wellands:
What a Follower Seeks in a Leader
1. He wants to follow a leader who is not afraid … not afraid of his position, not afraid of his own boss, not afraid of a tough job, not afraid of the people who work for him, not afraid of honest mistakes—either theirs of his.
2. He wants a leader who believes his work is important, and all those who are in it with him.
3. He wants a leader who gets a kick out of his work and helps his followers to get a kick out of theirs.
4. He wants a leader who gets a kick out of seeing a man do what that man thought he would never be able to do.
5. He wants a leader who will fight for him until hell freezes over, if the leader believes him to be in the right.
6. He wants a leader who will tell him what's what when he knows darn well it's coming to him, and a leader who will do it without losing his temper.
7. He wants a leader who who recognizes him as a person, regardless of his experience, school or training, and regardless of his religion, race, station in life or the lodge he belongs to.
8. He wants a leader who most of the answers but who will admit it if he doesn't know, and go get the answer.
9. He wants a leader who is predictable—that is, one he can depend upon to be the same all the time.
10. He wants a leader he can't pull anything over on but who is human enough to look the other way when he occasionally makes an ass of himself.
11. He wants a leader who he knows understands him, to whom he is not afraid to go when he has been a fool, when he's ashamed, when he's about washed up, or when he's proud and happy.
12. He wants a leader who he can get to when he really needs him and can get away from when he's through with him.
13. He wants a leader who can show him how to do a job without showing off or showing him up.
14. He wants a leader who will give him a chance to try something hard he has never done.
15. He wants a leader who he believes sincerely wants him to succeed and who will be proud of him when he does.
16. He wants a leader who respects his pride and never corrects him in the presence of others or gossips about him.
17. He wants a leader with the authority to promote, demote or let him go, as he knows he deserves.
Follow 