Who leads? Who follows?

The notion that men lead and women follow on the dance floor has been outdated for some time.

To produce the performances expected now, it is not enough for the lady to “only” follow.

Today’s dancing, which mixes artistry and athleticism, requires a more dynamic approach to leading within the couple.

As a general rule, the partner who goes forward provides the main drive.

In the dance world, “leading” is about delivering enough information and structure through your body and movements so that both partners can move in harmony to each other as well as the music.

Can we relate this to organisational leadership?

That too is about setting an overall direction. But once that is in motion, everybody needs to know their jobs and should be left to do it freely. This can relate to individuals as well as business units of large corporations.

The ability to move in unity comes through a strong, positive connection – but not a tight grip that hinders the other party.

My observation is that the ‘leading parties’ often still grip too tightly and ‘those going forward’ only passively ‘follow’.

Why is this so? Lack of trust from the ‘leaders’ or are those ‘following’ lacking in confidence?

Or is it because of an outdated understanding of leadership itself?

To link through to the discussion, click:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6383947050848960512/

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