Three weeks in a row! Here my quote of the week:
“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.”
Aristotle
similar quote with the same sentiment:
“You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.”
Sam Rayburn
For me both quotes have two meanings or aspects:
- You are usually always in a “chain of command” and to be a good leader you need to also be a good team player and support the big picture.
If you cannot follow how can you expect anyone else to follow you? - As a leader you should be able to also follow your own team members.
As an example you discuss a problem with your team, you might have an idea how to solve it but then a team member comes up with a great and better solution. In such an instance it would be good if you accept the idea and follow the proposal.
Ideally my team is way smarter than me and it gives energy to people if they can influence and take responsibility.