In yesterday’s Advisor, expert Cory Bouck defined the concept of “followership” and the roles of a follower in a dodgeball world. Today he shares the best career management advice he’s ever received—and more skills necessary in followership.
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Bouck, who is the director of organizational development and learning at Johnsonville Sausage, LLC, and author of The Lens of Leadership: Being the Leader Others WANT to Follow (Aviva Publishing, 2013), shared his advice on multigenerational leadership at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Annual Conference and Exposition held recently in Las Vegas.
The Best Career Management Advice
A former naval flight officer, Bouck recounted his time as a “nugget” (that is, rookie) in a squadron. While trying to learn the ropes of the job and fit in on the team, a senior officer handed Bouck a Post-It® note that contained what he describes as the best career management advice ever. On the note was written:
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Be productive |
It’s as simple as that. These are all characteristics of great followers—and, in turn, great leaders.
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The 4 Ps of Branding
Part of good followership is effectively maintaining your own personal brand as an employee. Bouck says when considering your brand, ask yourself this: Is it green and growing or ripe and rotting?
To stay green, always remember the 4 Ps:
- Product. The product is you! What are your unique features and benefits that help drive a team?
- Price. What value are you providing?
- Place. Are you “on the right bus,” as Bouck puts it? That is, are you in the right place to get your features and benefits noticed?
- Promotion. Are you known for your features and benefits? Are you receiving word-of-mouth promotion from coworkers? Are you effectively promoting yourself?
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Why Is It Important?
There’s a lot of talk out there about leadership, but not enough about its foundation—which is good followership, says Bouck. He adds that almost every major problem in the country can be attributed to a leadership problem—and in a multigenerational workforce where roles of follower and leader are paradoxically simultaneous, followership is more important than ever.
“So, why is this important?” Bouck asked the conference crowd again.
“Because business is dodgeball,” came the response.