How to start a movement: why following matters more than leading

Starting a movement is never easy. But if you pull it off, the rewards are many, and they’re well worth the effort.

Here’s what you get when you succeed:

• a dedicated group of people who follow you (your followers)
• the power of a collective identity
• a shared desire to change the status quo
• a common goal
• an open door to innovation and new ideas
• great targeting opportunities
• the chance to succeed globally (through online channels)

A social movement is a group of people (sometimes a very large one) who follow the same leader. What sets a movement apart is that all of its members share the same focus. They’re devoted to the cause, strong in their collective identity and ready to take risks. Those are exactly the qualities every leader dreams of seeing in their followers.

The question is: how do we get all these people to follow us?

A good leader knows that leading isn’t always what matters most. Sometimes following is what counts. According to Derek Sivers (the speaker in the video below), leadership is over-glorified. As he puts it: “If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.”

Of course, the leader is the one who needs “the guts to stand out and be ridiculed.” But the most important role in forming a movement belongs to the first follower: the person who joins the leader and shows everyone else what to do to become part of the movement. The first follower is the one the leader should value most and treat as an equal. The first follower is also the hardest to win. After that, momentum builds: the more followers you have, the more new people join them. As Derek Sivers explains, it’s actually the followers who attract more followers, not the leader.

The short video below brilliantly explains the stages of forming a movement (and the reasons behind them). It’s funny but spot on, and it’s packed with great ideas that are well worth three minutes of your time. Enjoy!