Follow the leader?

[Queen]

I bet many of us here are, decidedly, not followers.  But I'm wondering how people see themselves, do you think you're a leader, a follower, or other?

Are you always planning the events, setting up the gatherings, deciding the plans?  Or are you the one who joins the event, shows up at the gathering, or follows the plan laid out by others?

I'm an "other" who is often mistaken for a leader, I've explained many times that I'm just going my own way, although sometimes it seems people want to follow along.  Definitely not a joiner, even when it's to my detriment.  And mostly prefer to be left alone, but will occasionally show up at a prearranged meeting/event/gathering and enjoy myself... before I wander off alone.

HUGE kudos to Bob for being willing to lead, that level of commitment and involvement is antithetical to me.

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Definitely another "other" here

 

[ArtW]

other

 

[Gunny]

Leader I suppose. It's a leftover legacy from my time in The Corps. Add in the fact I don't give a rats ass what anyone else is doing.

Rob

 

[Queen]

I've always thought being a follower would be relaxing, not having to make things happen, not having to plan and decide and develop... Might be something to strive for, just like working on being oblivious (my ongoing goal).

 

[LeeRevell]

I am usually "crew", helping with set up, take down, decorations, acquiring supplies, etc. This has occasionally morphed into "leader" when the initial leader decides it's too much work and quits.
Occasionally, I will kick back and be a follower for a short time.
So, it depends on the situation.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Somebody say anything about thinking outside of a box? What box?

Seriously, if I want to do something, if there is a legal loophole(s), I will find it(them). For me, limits are merely suggestions. I'm not pathological, but I've never felt constraints because "that how we've always done it" or "the rules say" when the rules are bloody stupid. It didn't always make me the most beloved with not-so-bright teachers or suits.
Ted

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Somebody say anything about thinking outside of a box? What box?

Nope, I tend to think inside the box because Dr. Who has repeatedly taught me it's bigger on the inside ....

 

[Queen]

I've lived my whole life outside societal norms (boxes), that tends to make rules into "vague concepts".

 

[jimindenver]

I am a leader often because often no one else treads the path I follow. No one else was going to run my company the way it needed to be done either. It's not like I'm not willing to allow someone else shoulder the burden but I often have no choice.

 

[bullfrog]

I'm sometimes a follower but only after I convince you to do it so I can see how it works out!

 

[Queen]

I'm sometimes a follower but only after I convince you to do it so I can see how it works out!

 

[rvpopeye]

I be the Cap'n of me ship !
Also, I be the crew.........

 

[Almost There]

Definitely Leader!

Even when I don't start out that way...  

Someone else may come up with the great idea but in the end I usually end  up there in front making it happen and making sure that there's enough food

 

[DannyB1954]

A loner has no one to lead or follow. So other it is. That being said I would sooner show up at an event in progress, than have anyone follow me around. So a couple times a year I can be a follower, but never a leader.

 

[highdesertranger]

sometime leader sometime follower. depends. highdesertranger

 

[Gunny]

I should qualify my answer, following someone who is showing you something you don't know, such as solar for me and many other things I ask questions about.

Leader when it's time to fish or cut bait.

I guess it depends on ones point of view.

Rob

 

[AbuelaLoca]

I'm an "other" because I don't do anything but what I want to do about 90% of the time. However, I am not big on re-inventing the wheel, so if it's already been done pretty efficiently, I see no reason not to follow suit to "get what I want"!! I'm a lousy leader because I hate to tell people what to do, but I'm a pretty good influencer as lots of folks close to me tend to mimic my moods and behaviors and I take that pretty seriously!

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I think i'm a leader by nature. When working for others I usually quickly climb the ranks to the # 2 spot. Then ultimately leave to go back to running my own business. Like Jim, I feel like i'm the only one able to run my company, I don't know if that's from a lack of qualified people that can actually do it or my controlling nature that wouldn't allow it, I suppose it's a bit of both.

I've never succumbed to peer pressure, that stuff never worked on me. Three of my closest friends all went down the drinking and drug path at a young age and no matter how much they tried to push me into doing it, I never bent. In fact, the ones that pushed too far got pushed back......usually in the form of a black eye or bloody nose.

And I don't know if it's connected or related, but I CAN'T be a passenger in a car. I neither like other people driving or getting stuck somewhere on someone else's schedule. Aside from my Dad who's passed or in my best friend's vehicle, you'll likely never see me be a passenger.

 

[slynne]

It depends on the situation. There have been times when I have needed to be the leader in order to get what I wanted done. Yet, if someone else is leading and what they are organizing is something I want to do, then I follow with gratitude for the extra work the leader usuassy does. . A lot of the time, I am doing neither. Probably most of the time. 

I used to race sailboats when I was a teenager. It was drilled into us that there was a skipper on the boat and there was crew on the boat. The skipper had total responsibility for everything and everybody on the boat. The crew was taught to be unquestionably loyal and obedient to the skipper's orders. If the skipper told the crew they were supposed to jump out of the boat, they were supposed to jump without question and some of boys would order their crew to jump out of the boat for laughs. They were two person boats and we took turns being skipper and being crew. My boat partner and I decided early on though that this racing culture was BS so just always made decisions as equals. It cost us some races when we were not able to make decisions fast enough but most of the time it worked just fine with no leader and no follower, just two "others" I think we enjoyed ourselves more too.