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Which are you....

A leader....?

OR...

A follower...?

If you think you are a leader are you prepared to take the responsibility, ( blame ), when things go wrong after you have made a decision ?

If you think you are a follower do you feel that it is alright to copy other people instead of taking the lead and creating your own future ?

Why I ask this is because I see people all around me who are spending lots of money and effort to try to look and behave like others but on the other hand those who are brave enough to try to be individuals get punished for it for not being part of the crowd.

Where do YOU fit in this scheme ?

Well... I wouldn't really call myself either. I'm not a follower because I consider myself an individual. On the other hand, nobody is very intent on "following" me. I have my friends, and we all like each other... But we're all "black sheep" in the world.

Leader in the work place and in social affairs. I guess you could call me a follower in regards to fashion. I just like looking nice. I don't care if that means the Emo look or the Punk look or head to toe Armani.

Leader.

neither. i just..abide outside of the 'scheme'
i don't particularly like responsibility and i don't like to ...go with the flow either.

im not a good leader, i couldnt be someones boss or be in charge of a large group of people. but im creative and can come up with my own ideas and not copy someone else. but id rather work be my self rather than in a group.

SO....there is obviously more definitions set in between "leader" & "follower" then...OR are you....( the ones that want to be both )...just wanting their cake and eating it too ?

One definition that has come out early here is the "rebel" type that does not want to follow the general trends but wants to be a follower within his/her own sub-group.

The real leaders are the ones that create new ideas and are prepared to be punished for this direction. Because this is a difficult path to take there are not many of this type in a crowd.

The solitary creators like Moo Cow are in fact leaders even although they do not recognise this quality in themselves.

Dexx..."doesn't like to go with the flow" and while he denies being a leader I would suggest that it takes the courage of a leader to stay away from the pack-thinking mentality. Dexx...( who I think is a guy ), may one day surprise himself when he finds that inside a rebel there is a leader waiting to get out !

Linkalichious..... I suspect that you think you are a leader but if you want to "look nice" in the same way as all the others "look nice" then you are truly a follower.

Darth Revan.... I would like to suggest. that you ARE a leader as all you need to be a leader is to find that people are influenced by your strength of personality and creativity.

hmmm indeed

I believe a leader is someone where his or hers followers look up to them for inspiration and decision making.

I believe some people are born natural leaders who are able to take on the responsibility.

I think I'm like Nazzy (Moo Cow)...I could never lead other people, but at the same time I could never be a true follower. I like to do my own thing too much, but I can't stand working in groups with other people; I'd much rather work by myself.

Silver Stardust....

As I said to Moo Cow....People who like to sit in a corner away from the crowd and do their own thing are probably leaders who have not yet found the group that they want to lead.

As maturity develops most people seek to be accepted in some kind....any kind, of peer-group so that they have comfort in numbers. The trouble is that once this path has been taken this previously solitary soul will find that if they are creative and have the abilty to see new things and new ideas they will be placed in a leadership position by the people around them that are not as creative as they are.

Often leadership is forced upon the person that thinks they are not capable of this quality and after they have been doing it at a low level they find that moving up a rung is not as hard as they thought it might be from the position at the bottom of the ladder.

As Ash007 said...."leaders are born... not made ! " ( or words to that effect ).

well I dont let others deceide what I am and I aint spending a lot of money on things to be like others.If I like a thing I dont care what others might think about it, nor do I care what others think about my views either. I take a stand out of what I think is right for me and others must consider whats best for them

For me, every leader is a good follower. And a follower is a good leader.
I consider myself both.

The question should have been between "An Effective Leader" and "A Responsible Follower".

Finti....

Just like your friend Che....A rebel like you will only be fulfilled when you have followers to take your lead.

If you continue to go it alone you will eventually just be looked upon as a rather strange individualist !

But HEY....if that's your bag....go for it !

I adapt but adapting to what I find adequate.
Its not like I go find some really freak looking stuff just to keep up this induvidual status, but I dont follow the crowd into diggin whats cool just to be part of it either

Awe cm'on Finty.....

You LOVE being an individualist don't you ?

If you merely "adapt" then you are fitting in with what is "the norm" aren't you ? ( FOLLOWING ! ).

That is tantamount to selling out your individuality is it not ?

Nobody wants to be a sellout do they ?

adapt in the sense of wearing normal clothes, not those freaky freak stuff. Adapt in the sense of common sense, dont need to revolt on all thats happening just to revolt. An example were I differ from the "crowd" where I live, well I dont have a cellphone, I see everybody, and I mean everybody too, arond me carrying it around everywere they go like it was some form of VD. Cellphones annoying things, probably good to have in differnt work situation but thats all

Yeh..I get that....but...

If you wear what everybody thinks is "common sense" then you are being what is colloqually called "A suit" !

When I first went into the British civil service I had a beard which I was promptly told to shave off. When I went abroad to work and I got a bit of seniority a grew it back on again because all of the other civil servants were wearing suits and ties and were clones of each-other.

I was the first person to introduce open-neck shirts in any civil service "establishment" section. If you want to be a leader you have to go against "the establishment" and stamp your own personality on your area of control.

It's a bit like a dog or a cat marking it's territory I suppose !

I wear what I find comfy, suits aint even considered

"Suits"....

Sorry if I used a common term for "being part of the establishment" !

To call someone a "suit" in Britain means that they are a conformist and that they do and wear what is suitable to conform to the rest of the flock of sheep !

I do understand that you are NOT one of them !

Mind you...as I said before...It is sometimes difficult to be a non-conformist.

that sounds like some sort of personality test response, on some site
yeah i'm a guy. and yes..IF i am confident in my abilities then i wouldn't mind leading something...so long as i see the point of it. but generally...i like to keep a ...low profile

Some people think they were leaders ... when in fact they're not ... just simply because they don't have the CHARACTER.

thats why i lead by example

I am a leader.

Precisely. A person to become a leader, he must have the CHARACTER.

The term "leader" is overused... Very few people will openly admit to being followers, it's like this big clique of people who think, act, and dress the same, and ALL claim to be "leaders".

A person to become a true leader, he must be GOD-FEARING.

Bullshit. There's a difference between being a literal leader and having the personality traits of a leader... being independant and creative, among others.

Then you could be a self-proclaimed leader.

Well, isn't that what everybody else in here is doing? Proclaiming themselves leaders?

Anyways, I don't understand how believing in God makes a difference in whether or not you can be a self-proclaimed leader.

seems like what I did?

I never said that's what YOU did, I'm saying that's what a lot of other people are doing. Including Fiery Eyes, who is very religious. So obviously being "God fearing" doesn't prevent anybody from proclaiming themselves a leader.

Ok. Agree.

Did you know that.....

Psychopaths make excellent leaders !

urm no...psychpats have a tendancy of not being able to cover and be responsible for all the consequences of their actions. any excellence in a leading ability coming from that is merely accidental

leader

I can be both.. depends on who I am hanging out with

Nowwwwwwww whoaaa now what in the world did ya bring me up in that?? Just cuz I said i was a leader?? me saying that has nothing to do w/ my religious beliefs.

Excellent answer!!! To be a Great leader, you must be able to be lead.

Isn't a GOD-FEARING person a follower...?

Why do you ppl continue to include God in every topic??? Even worse you guys start to discuss God??? There are already threads about God in other topics! Can we just stick to THIS topic? It's simply absurd! This is a topic about being a leader or a follower!

Anyways, I don't consider myself a leader nor a follower.

I'm a TEAM worker.

I work with a team and not always do you need to be leader or a follower. What is needed is innovation, skills, and plenty of cooperation!

Thanks for responding Dexx....

I just threw that one in because I knew it would be controversial !

Having said that and agreeing that Psychopaths don't like to be held to account for their actions, I still say that they are very good leaders.

It is actually more than accidental that the Psychopathic type is almost always the type that will rise to the top because of his or her lack of empathy with his or her peers. Hard decisions are made instantly by the Psychopaths as they are only concerned about what accolades THEY get for their work and they are not interested in the physical or mental harm they do to collegues and underlings. All they care about is themselves and their desires.

If you look at certain captains of industry and the bosses of multi-national companies, ( not to mention dictators that have run entire countries now and in the past ), you will find that the ability to not give a damn about anybody but yourself is a common trait among these kinds of people.

They are not found out and brought down as they are too powerful to touch.

PS...Here is a list of the major traits of the Psychopath...You will see that while many of them might stop a person of this type getting promotion, once they are in a position of power their actions are devasatingly effective when they can blame underlings for their flaws !

http://members.aol.com/dswgriff/chardisorder.html

leader just coz I'm a bit bossy *hides* bag

im a leader .


i have to be to raise 4 duaghters

Along with leadership comes lots of responsibilty that can produce stress. The old saying of "The buck stops here" is meant to apply to the leaders at the top.

Of course the psychopathic types are experts at redirecting the blame to other less-powerful beings.

Does that description fit anybody YOU know ? ( anybody ).

Oh, read the rest of the thread, for Christ's sake.

I am kind of not a leader or a follower. I am more of a loner.

One possible view of "the loner":

The loner might be such as he or she does not have the confidence to mix in the usual social circles.

They might be loners because they only care about themselves and to give time to others is wasted effort - by their view of things, ( narsissists ).

They might be such because they are painfully shy.

They might be such because they feel that others don't understand them.

One thing is sure; if they remain loners they are going to get identified by others as freaky and strange and they are going to suffer because of their insularity.

When they go into real-life they are going to be expected to be able to make social intercourse and if they cannot mix they will be ostracised from normal society.

Most modern workplaces are engineered around the teamsmanship or the group ethic and if they are not able to function in a group they are going to suffer again from this flaw.

( There is no "I" in the word "Team" )....they say !

Being a loner as a youngster is a luxury that you can get away with but once you are in the mainstream of society this luxury then becomes too expensive to maintain.