I don’t believe there are any times when I’m only a leader or a follower. I’ve led leadership training sessions, guided less-senior classmates and coworkers, and set examples for friends and family in situations they were less familiar with. In the same way, those people have all led, guided, and set examples for me in situations I’m less familiar with, or in ways I didn’t have as strong of a perspective on.
Leadership, to me, is not about control or ordering others to do things; it’s about helping to guide people with a shared vision in reaching their goals, and setting an example that others may choose to follow, if they like the perceived outcome. Leadership is about providing a possible road for others to travel down, and showing them what walking down it looks like. Sometimes, I am the one leading the journey, and sometimes I step back to allow others to show me a better way.
Lock, Stock, and Spoonies™ 