1. ANDREW PERKINS
Commercial Director
The Inspirational Development Group
GABRIELLA STANNAH
Graduate Development Manager
Centrica
INTRODUCING
FOLLOWERSHIP INTO
EVERY GRADUATE’S
WORKING VOCABULARY
THE F WORD…VOCABULARY VITAL FOR ALL
EFFECTIVE GRADUATE DEVELOPMENT!

2. CENTRICA CORE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
10%
20%
70%
10%
20%
70%
Induction Development
Days
Management
Essentials
Followership
Performance Coaching, 360 Feedback, Live calibrations
Placement rotations, Campus activities, Assessment Centre facilitation etc.
Management
Essential
Graduate
Conference
Stream Mentoring, Live calibrations, Insight & 360 feedback
Management
Essential
Leadership
Placement Rotations, Supporting Graduate Events, Buddying etc.
Focus: Self awareness, Accountability, High Performance
Focus: Drive, Leadership, Emotional Intelligence

3. IN TODAY’S COMMERCIAL WORLD WHAT DOES GOOD
LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE IN A COMPLEX ORGANISATION?

4. WHAT KEY ATTRIBUTES ARE REQUIRED FOR SOMEONE TO BE
A SUITABLE GRADUATE IN A COMPLEX ORGANISATION?

5. FOLLOWERSHIP LESSONS FROM A DANCING GUY

6. WHAT DOES LEADERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
David Newman Kieran James Matthew Berry

7. WHAT DOES LEADERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
GIVE INSTRUCTIONS
BIG PICTURE
STRATEGY
AUTHORITY
RESPECT
JOURNEY
RESPONSIBILITY
AUTHENTICITY
TRUST
HONESTY
EMPOWERING PEOPLE
LESS CONTROL
MORE FREEDOM
VALUES
David Newman Kieran James Matthew Berry

8. WHY DO GRADS FEEL A PRESSURE TO BE “HER0” LEADERS
FROM DAY 1?

9. WHAT KIND OF ROLE MODELS ARE INFLUENCING THEIR
IDEA OF LEADERSHIP?

10. WHAT DOES FOLLOWERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
David Newman Kieran James Matthew Berry

11. WHAT DOES FOLLOWERSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
HELPING LEADERS
ABSTRACT
LESS OBVIOUS
BOTTOM OF HIERARCHY
TEAMWORK
BEING ENGAGED
TOO MUCH FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP
UNDERSTANDING
SELF DEVELOPMENT
AGILITY
FREEDOM
CONTRIBUTIONS
LEADERSHIP
BEYOND HIERARCHY
David Newman Kieran James Matthew Berry

12. WHAT WE BELIEVE
They are at the heart of everything that we do, and this is the culture that we seek to exemplify in
all our dealings with our colleagues, clients and relationships with every stakeholder.
The three linked circles on the IDG logo highlight our belief that inspirational Performance can
only be achieved via excellence in three areas – Leadership, Followership and Partnership, set
against the backdrop of the commercial world.
LEADERSHIP
Why would
anyone want to
follow you?
FOLLOWERSHIP
Why would
anyone want you
in their team?
PARTNERSHIP
Do I collaborate
consistently and
successfully?

13. FOLLOWERSHIP
ADMINISTRATION
LEADERSHIP
TECHNICAL
MANAGERIAL JOB ROLES

14. WHAT JOB
DO YOU DO?
• Audit, Tax, Consultancy, Corporate Finance, etc.
• Most formal education & training is focused here
• Easy to define and value ourselves/others by technical competency - often promoted
because of it
• Danger of clinging onto our expertise and not delegating by not trusting others to do it as
well we can
• Can result in overwork/time stress/visibly poor efficiency
FUNCTIONAL
EXPERTISE
TECHNICAL

15. HOW DO
YOU GET THE
JOB DONE?
ORGANISATIONAL
POSITION
ADMINISTRATION
• Coordination and utilisation of resources, systems, etc to maximise performance
and meet targets
• Often gets misinterpreted as “management” in the fullest sense
• Over focus here can result in a short term, task orientation and the perception that their
purpose is simply to MAXIMISE results by getting the MOST out of human resources as
EFFICIENTLY as possible

16. OPTIMISING results by getting the BEST out of PEOPLE in the most EFFECTIVE way by constantly
providing answers to 4 simple questions:
WHY am I here? Clarity of purpose and direction
WHAT does that mean for my priorities and behaviours?
HOW am I doing? Feedback/personal performance management
HOW can you help me to improve? Raising the performance bar
PERSONAL
RESPECT
HOW DO
YOU GET THE
JOB DONE
THROUGH &
WITH
OTHERS?
LEADERSHIP

17. • Most of us are more often followers than leaders. Followers contribute 90% to the success
of any organisational outcomes
• Followership dominates our lives and organisations but not our thinking, because our pre-
occupation with leadership keeps us from considering the nature and importance of the
follower
PERSONAL
RESPECT
HOW DO
YOU GET THE
JOB DONE
for others?
FOLLOWERSHIP

18. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

19. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

20. What do they do?
• Nothing! More accurately, nothing that they haven’t been explicitly
told to do – and certainly nothing more
• Expect tomorrow to be just like today
• Rely entirely on the leader for direction and focus and never
challenge
What does this mean?
• For them: In many cases these people can end up being replaced by
automated or improved processes, since they add little or no value
• For the leader: Weak (or low confidence) leaders tolerate (and even
encourage) this sort of behaviour which can (ironically) put more
pressure on themselves
SHEEP

21. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

22. What do they do?
• What they think the leader wants them to do – sometimes in an
overly deferential way
• Tell the leader what they want to hear rather than what they need to
know – this can be dangerous for everyone!
What does this mean?
• For them: They need a leader to provide them with direction and
purpose and are therefore entirely dependent upon that leader
• For the leader: Their judgement is never challenged, meaning that
may develop a false sense of security
YES PEOPLE

23. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

24. What do they do?
• Adequate performers who give up their independence over time in
favour of political expediency.
• Often “political” bureaucrats who carry out directives to the letter, even
though they might have valuable ideas for improving things.
What does this mean?
• Constantly monitoring the wind direction & their motto is “Better to be
safe than sorry!”
• Their key objective is not to lead change but to survive it at all costs.
• They ask for permission not forgiveness.
SURVIVORS

25. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

26. What do they do?
• Complain!
• Behave in accordance with “Attribution Theory”
• Environment, Systems, Resources, Others, Self
• Find problems (regularly and vocally) but refuse to take responsibility for
solving them – that’s the leader’s job!
What does this mean?
• For them: Life is full of frustration and resentment – they end up
channelling their energy towards fighting the system
• For the leader: Alienated followers are often very bright – having bright
people behave like at best deprives the leader of some of their best
people and at worst can result in the leader being undermined
ALIENATED FOLLOWERS

27. FOLLOWERSHIP TYPES

28. Self-management – Assuming Responsibility
• Exercise control and independence to work without close supervision –
at their level of competence
• Willing to openly – but constructively – disagree with those they follow
(and those they in turn follow)
Commitment
• To a goal, NOT to their leader – leaders can be seen as fellow travellers
on a worthwhile journey
• Leaders must be aware of and channel this commitment – or risk
losing control of their followers
EFFECTIVE FOLLOWERS

29. Self-development
• Recognise that committed incompetence is still incompetence – and
actively seek opportunities to remedy that
• Take on extra work – but remain focussed on doing a superb job in their
core area of responsibility
• Actively seek and act upon feedback from colleagues
Courage and honesty
• Give credit where credit is due, and are willing to admit to mistakes – ask
for forgiveness, not permission
• Establish themselves as credible witnesses whose judgement can be
trusted and relied upon
EFFECTIVE FOLLOWERS

30. F
A
T
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

31. F
A
T F
A T
L
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

32. F
A T
L
F
A
T F
A T
L
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

33. F
A T
L
F
A
T F
A T
L
L
F
A T
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

34. F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A
T F
A T
L
L
F
A T
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

35. THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A
T F
A T
L
F
A T
L
L
F
A T

36. F
A T
L
FA T
L
F
A T
L
F
A
T F
A T
L
F
A T
L
L
F
A T
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

37. F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
F
A T
L
THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

38. WHAT WILL YOU DO DIFFERENTLY TO DELEGATE MORE
ADMIN AND TECHNICAL TASKS TO BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON
LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWERSHIP....?
REBALANCING YOUR ROLE

39. • Make it part of the commercial graduate language
• Define it as a core graduate competence
• Explain what it means to your organisation
• Develop your graduate programme so that there is a consistent
followership golden thread that runs through the graduate
roadmap
• Think carefully about the design of your graduate roadmap
• Give followership senior level advocacy
• Make followership real from the words of senior role models
MAKING FOLLOWERSHIP GRADUATE COOL

40. Partnership
FollowershipLeadership

41. Partnership
FollowershipLeadership

42. Partnership
FollowershipLeadership
£

43. WHAT WE BELIEVE
They are at the heart of everything that we do, and this is the culture that we seek to exemplify in
all our dealings with our colleagues, clients and relationships with every stakeholder.
The three linked circles on the IDG logo highlight our belief that inspirational Performance can
only be achieved via excellence in three areas – Leadership, Followership and Partnership, set
against the backdrop of the commercial world.
LEADERSHIP
Why would
anyone want to
follow you?
FOLLOWERSHIP
Why would
anyone want you
in their team?
PARTNERSHIP
Do I collaborate
consistently and
successfully?

44. ANDREW PERKINS
Commercial Director
The Inspirational Development Group
GABRIELLA STANNAH
Graduate Development Manager
Centrica
THANK YOU