Creative Followership - Book Review

 Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness by Jimmy Collins with Michael Cooley

I've written before about followership using Robert Kelly's breakdown in the Power of Followership (currently out of print but well worth finding and reading).  In Kelly's book, he breaks followers into categories or profiles and defines the the profiles and the characteristics of each.  One of those profiles is that of the Exemplary Follower.  The Exemplary Follower is that individual who is full engaged in their work with all that that implies.

Jimmy Collins' book is about the principles he believes will bring the Exemplary Follower into existence, although he never uses that term, nor references Kelly's book.  He lists 35 principles in two parts which define the behavior and practices of what he defines as the Creative Follower in the work setting.  This is a highly pragmatic book.  His principles attempt to define behaviors and attitudes which can position anyone to move into greater and greater roles of responsibility and ultimately leadership.

At first I was a little put off by what he had to say, but I persevered and the further I got into the book I realized that I myself had followed many of these "principles" and recognized that they did contribute to being a better follower as well as moving me into leadership responsibilities.  As I contemplated the role of this particular book in the framework of leadership development I think I would place it very early in the process.  This is the kind of book I would have liked to use in teaching my teenage children (or at least when they were teenagers) about the realities of the working world.  It is definitely the kind of book that a 20 something could benefit from, and benefit greatly . . . if.

I add the if because many, if not most, of Collins' principles are counter intuitive will automatically be rejected by most American youth of today's culture.  Principles like:

• Do What Your Boss Does Not Like to Do
• Make Your Boss Look Good
• Do It the Way the Boss Likes it Done
• The Only Real Feedback is Negative

and many others will be outright rejected before even attempting to give them a try.  That's sad because the individual who can truly become the exemplary follower, I mean Creative Follower, has tremendous potential to Lead.

So, I recommend that all parents of teenagers or youth leaders buy the book and begin the laborious process of driving this information deep into the brains of the upcoming generation.  It will be hard, and definitely not appreciated until they reach their 30s . . . but it might just save America.