FAQs
We’ve gathered up frequently asked questions and chunked them into two sections below: Questions About Followership & Leadership and Questions About Our Programs & Courses. We aren’t trying to dissuade you from asking questions - on the contrary! - we love QUESTIONS. We even have a course on asking more questions Make Question-asking Your Superpower, that’s how much we love questions.
What are all your questions for us?
Questions About Followership & Leadership
Is Followership the same as Managing Up?
No. Managing Up is a technique for accomplishing your agenda or goals. Followership is about supporting and getting on board with someone else’s agenda or goals. It is possible that you could be doing both at the same time if your agenda is the same as that of the other person.
Is Followership the same as Self-Leadership? And what about Self-Followership?
We prefer to talk about leadership and followership as interpersonal skills: equal, dynamic and different. Followership is the complement to leadership, not “self-leadership”.
Self-leadership and self-followership are also complementary skills. Here is an example: an act of self-leadership could be creating your New Year’s resolutions: you are aiming to create the conditions for your better life. The complement to this is self-followership, which is when you adhere to and follow through on your resolutions. In general, people are poor at following their own frameworks. Self-followership is in short supply!
(Shout out to Birna in Iceland for being the only one so far to ask us this smart question about self-followership!)
Why do we insist on using a term that many people hate: the F word, followership?
Because it’s accurate. We’ve been working in this space for >15 years, we’ve tried other words and they just don’t work. Much like the famous sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, we prefer guidance that is blunt, clear and plain spoken. Seriously though, what is the problem with the word followership or follower? We all do it! And we’d all be better off if we did it well. Isn’t it funny how the taboo words are things everyone does?
You claim your partner-centric approach to leadership is original. Aren’t you basically talking about servant leadership?
Thank you for bringing up servant leadership! In fact, we are fans. Servant leadership was popularized by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 in hopes of shifting best practice leadership styles from autocratic to democratic. We honour and build on his philosophy but for 21st century workplaces. Today, it’s not about occasionally being of service to your team members, it’s about always being in partnership with your team members. Sometimes you lead, and at other times you follow.
Questions About Our Courses & Programs
Who are your courses and programs for, i.e., what level: entry level, mid-career or senior management?
Our courses are suitable for everyone from university students to Board members. Interestingly, different levels tend to get different learnings from the programs. Even without the social learning aspect, our courses average 4.8 stars on partner platforms.
However, the real magic is cohort learning. Our programs are geared for team development. In other words, they are designed to engage everyone on the team from front-line to senior executive. One of the reasons we encourage senior executives to also participate is so they can model the way, mentor, contribute to succession plans, and reinforce culture-building.
How easily are courses adapted to different audiences?
Easily! We often tailor discussion questions, experiments, and projects to best suit. We’ve adapted successfully and efficiently to students, boards, CEO groups, universities, government, HR professionals, healthcare professionals, accountants, engineers, start-ups and specific organizational needs/challenges/strategies.
Are your courses and programs synchronous or asynchronous?
Our online courses are asynchronous, participants participate at their convenience. We typically recommend releasing content over a period of time to encourage deeper learning and time to practice the concepts. Blended programs typically include one or more synchronous sessions, live online or in person.
Do you provide train-the-trainer programs?
Yes! Our courses were designed with Flipped Classrooms in mind and work very well as a key resource for organizational trainers, coaches and university instructors. Talk to us if you are interested in this option.
How much are your courses and your programs?
It depends! We recognize every situation is unique and special, and lots of folks are working with a tight budget so we have a sliding scale pricing model. Get in touch. We simply want to be your favourite way to learn. And, to make work a better part of life☺