I’ve written previously about Ira Chaleff’s book The Courageous Follower. The first and most important courage to develop as a follower is to look inward and assume responsibility for yourself.  That continuous inward journey is the foundation for right relationship between followers and leaders.  After looking inward, the courageous follower can look outward, first to serve the purposeful leader, then if necessary to challenge the leader who has strayed from the shared purpose.

Part of our responsibility to leaders that have wandered off purpose is not just to challenge them, but to then help them get their behavior back on track.  In my opinion this is the most difficult courage that Chaleff proposes because it involves a radical paradigm shift.

We accept as entirely reasonable the notion that is a leader’s responsibility to first confront and then help a follower transform inappropriate behavior.  But we have a very hard time with the notion that in right relationship, it is just as much the follower’s responsibility to help the leader transform. 

It will take more than a request to change deeply ingrained behaviors, especially with an arrogant leader that has created a culture of personality instead of a culture of purpose and performance.  And we will have to confront the reality that by our own behavior, we have probably helped approve and shape the behavior in the leader we now hope to change.

Here are three things Chaleff says about the courage to participate in transformation that I find particularly relevant:

• The paradox of transformation is that we probably have to change ourselves first.  In the end, our role in the relationship is the only one we have the full power to change
• The single most important act a courageous follower can take as a catalyst for change is to convey the intensity of our concern about the leader’s behavior. We must first admit to ourselves how serious the situation is in order to have any hope of helping our leader acknowledge the need for change.
• We must forgive our leaders for who they were and what they did to us out of respect for their courage to try to change.

Let’s be honest – transformation is risky, messy, and can easily fail. We could end up even more exposed and vulnerable than when we started.  Change is hell.

Yet even if our efforts fail, we will have taken our courage to the edge of chaos.  I believe this is requisite to our development as true partners.  

We will lead entirely differently when the formal position eventually catches up to our skill.

A few days ago, I wrote about the courage to serve the purposeful leader.  I concluded that article by asserting that we all have a responsibility to serve our organization’s purpose.  If our leader wanders from that shared purpose to a direction that is egocentric and detrimental, we have a responsibility to muster the courage to challenge our leader.

Leaders and followers are BOTH guardians of the purpose.  Part of the courageous follower’s role is to help the leader honor the contract.  If we do not challenge a leader about dysfunctional behavior, the contract is slowly voided (Chaleff, The Courageous Follower)

Challenge what the leader can change – her behavior and policies.  Purposeful challenge must never be about personality or even attitude, and must always be done with a proper motive.  The reason we challenge is not to debunk our leader, but to help our leader get back on track to what we are all working for.

Challenge abusive and inappropriate behavior early. If you fail to do so, your collusion with the leader’s behavior will make it even more difficult to challenge later.

Even though we have a responsibility to challenge policies and processes we have concerns about, unless we are asked to do something illegal or immoral, we have a duty to obey.  We never have the right to sabotage our leaders and their policies.

If you are a leader, can you accept challenge from your followers, or do your people never tell you no?  Better yet, have you set up a system where challenge is expected and rewarded?

One thing Chaleff says that I really love is that we should challenge ourselves before challenging our leader.  Before I challenge I always try to ask “am I really behaving purposefully?  Is this really about us, or just about me?”

Your challenge will be credible and effective to the extent that you have first assumed full responsibility for yourself and your own behavior.