We spend 99% of our time in the role of follower but we only ever work on our leadership muscles…JC shares thoughts and techniques on how to boldly follow like a pro.
JC Lippold is currently teaching at a musical theater intensive camp in Wisconsin. All the Jens are here today to talk about bold followership. If you want to watch a great TED talk, check out Jen's Ted talk.
Leaders need followers more than followers need leaders. The best leaders are always within that space of changing how they do what they do and when they are doing it. It's the first follower that turns a lone nut into a leader. How to start a movement? Affirming the follower or affirming the leader and becoming the follower.
Well, hey there, Cadre. How are you? Happy Monday. I'm a little bit later today than normal. 1230 is my regular time for bold followership here on professional development day. So pardon the delay, but I am currently sitting on the floor of Shell Lake Arts center in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. This week. I am teaching at. Hey Jen, nice to see you. Pete, nice to see you as well. Yeah, I'm teaching at Shell Lake Arts center in Shell Lake, Wisconsin this week. A musical theater intensive camp. Were you ever a camp person?
Hey Jules, Jen, nice to see you, my friend. All the Jens are here today. Hey anybody, if you want to watch a great TED talk, check out Jen's Ted talk. Jen, why don't you type in it into the chat what your Ted talk was on and if it is available already for people to watch, let me know if they can go ahead and watch that in the. In the YouTube or on the TED Talk channel. H. Dayton I love camp too, Jules. Sports camp, all the camps. There's something really special about getting to enter into a different world, an intensive world, an immersive world for a week, and then to go back into your regular world on the other side and see the world slightly differently.
As I mentioned, my name's JC Lippold. If we've never shared time and space together before, thanks for the opportunity to spend some time and space with you. Hi Amy, nice to see you too. I'm in the perfect environment to talk about bold followership today. What's followership? Well, so often in the professional development world, we talk about being leaders and about doing new things and about being the original in the front line. So often, what do we end up finding? Only one person can be leading.
And the person who is leading is only leading for moments as they hand off and as they listen and as they learn and grow and adjust. The best leaders are always within that space of changing how they do what they do and when they are doing it. That's what theatre is about, everybody. I'll tell you, last night we brought a 31 young people together for the first time. People from all over the midwest and France. We have two campers from France this week. How cool is that? And these 31 people, young people, go, what are we going to be doing?
And our answer as facilitators is, well, that's going to be inspired by you. We have a big auditorium, we have this big art center with one of only two camps here this week. So we have this big empty space in canvas with 31 people who are going to, by the end of the week. Create a show, and a show that as people come and watch it, they're going to go, wow, where did all that come from? How did you learn it all? Not only are they learning it, but they are creating it amongst each other's energy and leadership.
Someone has an idea, someone affirms that idea, and then when that idea is affirmed, it can grow into something. Have you ever heard the phrase that leaders need followers more than followers need leaders? If you haven't, I'm glad I just said it to you for the first time. But it's true, right? There's a lot of leaders going, okay, I'm a leader. I'm a leader. But if no one's following them, hey, speak. Wonder if no one's following them. They're not a leader. That leadership shows up by people choosing to follow.
As you see, Jen just shared Jen's recent TEd talk. It's called why we should rethink drinking culture. You can check it out on YouTube. And while you do that, I'm also gonna share a three minute TEd talk that is one of my favorites. It's by a gentleman named Derek Sivers, and it's called how to start a movement. In this three minute TEd talk, Derek says that it's the first follower that turns a lone nut into a leader. Well, I will tell you, me and my three fellow facilitators felt really, really uncomfortable and insecure until people started being willing to follow.
I'm gonna walk on over here. Do you hear that in the background? Can you hear these kids singing? I ain't playing that. I'm just sitting in the hallway, and all of a sudden, I heard these kids in music rehearsal right now and, oof. Who are you following this week? Who needs you to affirm that? The idea that they have is something. All of a sudden, these 31 kids are starting to buy into. It's like, wow, we're the ones. We're the ones who have to create. So if you're wondering how to start that movement, it may not be in you being the leader, it may be in you affirming the follower or affirming the leader and becoming the follower.
So live a great rest of your day, everybody, and we will talk to you soon.
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