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Leader or follower?

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I have a 2 and a half hour drive home from work every day. This allows me plenty of time to think of some odd shit.

Yesterday on the way home my mind wonderd a little and I started to look at the difference between a leader and a follower.
So which one are you?

I see myself as both, and neither.
At work, I would prefer to just go in for 8 hopurs, do my job installing pipe, and come home. But it seems that every company I work for wants me to be in a leadership role. I dont mind it, I'm not at all scared of it. so I do it to the best of my ability.
At home I find myself in more of a following role. I have a headstrong wife and daughter, and trying to "lead" them is an excersice in futility. So I just go along for the ride. "what do you want for dinner?"
"I dont care, whatever you want."
"Where do you want to go on our road trip?"
"I dont care wherever you want to go."

Driving is another example. I like to be in front of the pack. I will slip into the passing lane on the highway and pretty much just stay there. I wouldnt say I have a lead foot, but I dont normally stick to the speed limit either. But if I'm cruising along at 70 - 75 mph and someone comes up behind me doing 80 or more, I'll let them by and then follow them. Let them get a few miles up and then step on it. Let thet guy get pulled over, I'll wave as I go by.

Ndever been much of a go to the party guy either, sometimes its fun, like going to some TOO outings. But I have also never been much of a throw the party guy either.

Always been kind of a loner, just doing my own thing. If it happens to be the kind of thing someone else I know is into doing, then so be it.

So how bout the rest of you? Would you prefer to lead or follow?
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,745
274
North Carolina
I wear both hats mulitiple times a day.... I have employees I superivise and I have boss's I have too answer too so too be a good leader you have too wear both of those hats in my oppinion..... You and I sound a lot a like Dante..... I'm not the same in driving for the most part though lol....
The key too being a good or above average leader is the ability too listen too your guys and base your decision on what youe see from both sides of the fence, they don't always agree with my decisions but they know that I'd never screw anyone over intentionally either.....
 

CJD3

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
14,630
201
NE Ohio
Damn. thats a little deeper than my poor old mind goes. I usually just count road kills on my 2 1/2 hr drive.
(funny I seem very much like the guy you just described though)

My wife use to nag me when we were on the road, "You always have to pass everyone on the road". "No" ,I would reply
"Just the guy in-front of me"
 
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aholdren

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,178
151
South East Ohio
Last year our plant did away with Shift Supervisors and added a Lead Operator and I assumed that role on my shift, so as far as work goes I feel like Im filling the leader role, after 23 years of doing the same thing I feel very comfortable being the one to make the decisions that need to be made.
As far as driving I would have to say Im alot like Dante is.
When I was single I was always up for a party but as Ive aged I just prefer to sit and drink a few cold ones without the noise and smoke.
As a father of two young kids I feel as Im a leader also cause I just let my wife feel like she is the one making all the decisions lmao.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I'm a leader, but I'm also a team player. "If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes" is one of my favorite quote. Plain and simple, if I'm not in the lead, I'm not comfortable...

When it comes to driving, you'd better get the fuck out of my way because I'm coming through!!! lmao
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Lead, follow, or get the fugg outta my way! I'm always the one getting yelled at when me and my buddies do stupid shit while drinking. Maybe cause I'm a few years older I guess. So maybe that makes me a leader. I think a combination of both is a happy medium for me. I know whenever there's a prject at work, my boss will lean on my even though we have a guy who's been there 39 years, and my supervisor 8 years. It's tough sometimes because my SV I think feels threatened so I'll defer to him on ideas so he feels important, no matter how laimbrained his ideas are
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
Thanks for the chuckle Jesse!

Yeah, I'm kinda of both mostly. At work I lead by example with strong work ethic. At home my wife and I both take the lead over our girls and decision making. Like others have said, where to eat or go? Just go with the flow mostly.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
I'm a leader. I hate group think, will go right for someone's throat, but also be the first to help out and encourage a team.

Someone told me once that the only thing someone needs to be a leader is a single follower. Kinda true. I get pissy at 'leadership training' because I believe that you are either a leader or your not, but as a leader, you can enhance your team skills.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
At home, I would say I let the wife feel she has the reigns. Mostly due to the fact I get to do whatever I want. We discipline together and make decisions together, but in the end she knows I will get the final say. Only once did she put her foot down and demand something: Going back to school. Glad she did now but it was hell for nearly 3yrs of her attending school. Retirement investing, vehicle purchases, business decisions, real estate purchases, etc., she pretty much listens and tells me to go with my gut. I ask her input, but she gets mad because: "You are going to do whatever you want to anyhow. I don't know why you are even asking me!" lol

Work. I am in a leadership role simply because it is my business. I hate to be called "Boss" though. I remind them "I do not want to be a boss. We are all here to work together to keep the customers happy. The customers are our bosses. Don't call me boss please. Do your job and I will be another co-worker. Screw up and it forces me to act like a boss. I don't like being forced to act like a boss."

Pretty much "try" to delegate as much decision making to the guys as I can. If we need to come up with 10, I don't care if we add 2+2+2+2+2 or 5+5 or 9+1. Let's talk about it and figure out how to get to 10 in the most efficient way. I hear them out and most times I let them run with it. As long as we are working together to finish a job in the most efficient way, I really don't care. My foreman can be a little more blunt. His answer might be "Okay thanks for the suggestion. Now go do what I told you. We got shit to do." I give him the foreman title for a reason. I trust him to be efficient, make good decisions, and get stuff done. lol

Driving? I have certainly mellowed out over the years. Turned into a pretty conservative driver as we added car seats to the vehicles.

Groups? I can sit back and be an Indian. I do not feel the need to be a chief. Sometimes (projects at the church come to mind) there are 5 chiefs and 1-2 Indians. I am usually an Indian until I realize me and another person or two are doing all the work while the chiefs argue it out. At this point I am not afraid to step up and point out the ridiculousness of the situation. I have been known to leave as well and tell them to call me when they figure it out. This usually snaps some common sense into people when they realize they are accomplishing nothing.

Family gatherings? Plenty happy to sit back and go with the flow. We have big families. I have no problem emptying trash cans or helping out. Let everyone else fight it out how they want to do things. I will show up, enjoy the company, and pitch in to help out where needed.

Fire department- I have no issues following. There are plenty of full time guys there that live it every day and are better trained than I am. If they need me to climb in the ladder truck or just roll up hose, I don't care. I am there to help as needed. There is a good reason for having a Chief, Platoon Chiefs, Captains, etc. They hold those titles for a reason.

I guess in the end, I can wear either hat. Sometimes I need to remind myself to be an Indian though instead of the chief.
 

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
On a serious note.

Retirement from the Marine Corps is a reality that will be happening in one to four years. We always joke about getting low stress jobs where all you have to do is worry about doing your job with out thinking ahead, planning, managing people, or just in general making a difference. I've been in some sort of leadership position for almost 26 years. The jobs range from supervising a few Marines in taking out the trash, making decisions about what man/woman needs to deploy in harms way, making sure the barracks was clean, and managing global logistics operations for some of the most advanced weaponry in the world. One of the reasons I went the enlisted to warrant officer and then to limited duty officer route is so I could be in jobs that had greater responsibility and the chance to do things that are very challenging.

I don't do well when things are calm and I work MUCH better under stress. It's a running joke in my current unit that I'm the angriest when nothing is going on and the happiest when the world is falling apart. So based off that I doubt I could ever handle being a true follower. Don't get me wrong, there is always a time to follow, but for the most part I'd rather be the guy making the decisions. Another thing that is important to me is the opportunity for future growth and promotion. I'm not overly competitive, but I would like to know that if I work hard and do my job that I have the chance to rise higher in status and most importantly pay.

BTW I drive like an old man (except for when we lived in Italy and I even scared my crazy driving wife:smiley_coolpeace:).
 
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Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
I don't do well when things are calm and I work MUCH better under stress. It's a running joke in my current unit that I'm the angriest when nothing is going on and the happiest when the world is falling apart. So based off that I doubt I could ever handle being a true follower. Don't get me wrong, there is always a time to follow, but for the most part I'd rather be the guy making the decisions. Another thing that is important to me is the opportunity for future growth and promotion. I'm not overly competitive, but I would like to know that if I work hard and do my job that I have the chance to rise higher in status and most importantly pay.

I would agree with that - the hotter the pressure, the better I perform.

(here come the jokes)