Strengths-Based Leadership
Why People Follow
The Gallup organization conducted a formal study from 2005-2008 to explore why people follow. The random sampling of 10,000 followers focused on responses to the following questions:
- What leader has the most positive influence in your daily life?
- Now, please list three words that best describe what this person contributes to your life.
In some cases, more than 1,000 people listed the exact same word in response to question #2. Given that there are more than 170,000 words in the English language, these findings were impressive. It seemed that followers have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the most influential leaders in their lives:
- Trust
- Compassion
- Stability
- Hope
Source: Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie