. In Praise of Followership by Tom Terez Would you rather be a leader or a follower? For years, I focused on leadership. I read books about it, interviewed people about it, talked about it, wrote about it, and did my best to be about it. Then came May 20 and an unlikely experience on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. Now I'm proud to be what I'd call a strategic follower. My conversion began a year earlier, when I ran my first-ever 10K road race. I did it with two of my older siblings, and we had such a fun weekend reuniting in our hometown of Cleveland that we promised to make it an annual event. The next year approached quickly, and two months before the May race, I began to buckle down and work off that winter weight. But something didn't feel right -- my lungs just didn't seem up to capacity. A doctor confirmed it, diagnosing a mild case of pneumonia. He prescribed antibiotics, and my lungs began to clear. But a month later, my neighborhood jogs still seemed difficult. The fun of running had turned into plain old hard work as I struggled for breath. Three days before the race, I laced up my shoes and hit the road for one last preparation run. Ten minutes into it, it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I stopped running and started walking, wondering how I'd manage to cover a full 10 kilometers in an official race. On race day, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. in my Cleveland hotel room. Alone with my thoughts, I resolved to think positive, to expect the best, to approach the starting line with full confidence. Then I fueled up with a big breakfast of oatmeal, an energy bar, a banana, and two cups of coffee. Whatever it was -- the mental resolve, the extra calories, the caffeine, the beautiful spring weather, or all of the above -- it worked. The first 15 minutes of the race flew by. My lungs seemed back in business. Then the grade steepened, my legs tightened, and my breathing once again became a struggle. My early-morning optimism seemed to fall away with each heavy stride. I thought back to my failed run three days earlier and began wondering whether I'd even make it to the finish line. It was right about then that I spotted him: a runner with perfect form who was easing his way past me. He wasn't huffing and puffing like the rest of us. He wasn't looking left and right. He wasn't wiping away sweat. He wasn't even running so much as gliding. For a moment, I envied him. Then I began to follow him. He had a pace that was slightly faster than mine. But I watched closely and tried to match him step for step. I even adjusted my posture and arm movements to mimic his effortless flow. Before long I found the rhythm and forgot all about my breathing problems. We never made eye contact. We never said a word to each other. I'm not even sure he knew I was engaged in a race-saving game of follow the leader. But it worked. As he picked up his pace on a downgrade, so did I. As he slid past other runners, so did I. As he poured it on toward the finish, so did I. I always stayed behind him, but you know what? I ran a much faster race as a result, shaving nearly four minutes off my time from the previous year -- and clocking my fastest 10K pace ever. Followership gets little attention. Plug the term into Google and you'll come up with 183,000 hits. It sounds like a lot -- until you search on "leadership" and come up with 157,000,000 hits. That's a 1-to-858 ratio. Most workplaces prize the lion-like leader who stays in front. But being a thoughtful follower might be the best way to strengthen your performance and get better results. Look around for people who are gliding along at a faster pace. Watch their methods. Learn from them. Literally do what they do. Just don't be surprised when people begin to follow you. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Terez (TomTerez.com) is an international consultant and frequent speaker on organizational performance (BetterWorkplaceNow.com) and personal excellence (InnerBest.com) Copyright 2007 Tom Terez. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2009 Tom Terez Workplace Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. P.O. Box 21444, Columbus, Ohio USA 43221-0444. Tel. 614-488-9721. Online Contact Form Home | Ideas and Insights | Improvement Tools | White Papers | Reprint Center | Talks, Workshops, Consulting | E-Letters | Contact | For Clients Visit our other sites:...TomTerez.com...InnerBest.com BetterWorkplaceNow.com, Better Workplace Now, TomTerez.com, InnerBest.com, and Inner Best are trademarks of Tom Terez Workplace Solutions, Inc.