Leaders and Followers: Finding a Safe Place 12/7/16

Leaders and Followers: Finding a Safe Place* For followers to do their best work they must feel safe. Near the foundation of Maslow’s hierarchy is safety. People will never accomplish great things if they are always on guard. To keep them from feeling this way they have to feel that they know what’s happening around them. A good leader gives followers constant feedback so they are not surprised. Professional counseling, progress updates, and clearly identified goals are just some of the ways followers learn about what is going on and how they are doing. People who are situationally aware and know where they stand among their peers will work hard to belong and gain the esteem of others. Another thing that can make people feel unsafe is when instigators create drama. Leaders must deal with this quickly and effectively to maintain the safety of the group. Smart leaders also make people feel safe by helping the whole team succeed. For people to be effective they must not only be safe they must be shielded from minor distractions. It does not take an existential threat to keep a group from doing their best, even flies or ants (so to speak) can be enough to keep your team from their goals. For followers to feel safe they need to see their leader and trust that he/she knows what’s going on. They also need to believe that their leader will take action when anything threatens the team. Leaders who manage the internal and external environment will make people feel safe and see their team accomplish great things. *This is a personal reflection on chapter 4 of the book, The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People by Leman and Pentak – The main points of chapter are...Make your pasture a safe place: -Keep your people well informed -Infuse every position with importance -Cull chronic instigators from the flock -Regularly rotate the sheep to fresh pastures -Reassure the sheep by staying visible -Don’t give problems time to fester ** For a spiritual thought on this reflection you may consider John 10: 11-13