Tyrants can only rise with our help. And they aren’t limited to heads of state. Family heads, corporate CEOs, a town mayor: any leadership role can have tyrannical qualities. As followers, we make them possible. And we can push them to a better path.
Our guest, Ira Chaleff, studies followership in-depth. He’s identified five categories of followers who play a role in a tyrant’s rise…and how they can change that course.
BIO:
Ira Chaleff is an author, speaker, and innovative thinker specializing in the dynamics between leaders and followers. He serves as chairman emeritus of the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation in Washington, D.C., an organization dedicated to enhancing communication between constituents and their elected representatives.
Chaleff's groundbreaking work, The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders, has been published in multiple languages and is utilized globally across educational, corporate, government, and military institutions. He co-edited The Art of Followership: How Great Followers Create Great Leaders and Organizations, part of the esteemed Warren Bennis Leadership Series. His book Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You're Told to Do Is Wrong explores the roots of obedience and provides guidance on resisting inappropriate orders to achieve ethical outcomes.
As the founder of the Followership Learning Community within the International Leadership Association, Chaleff has been recognized as one of the 100 "Best Minds on Leadership" by Leadership Excellence magazine. He has served on the board of the International Leadership Association and was a visiting leadership scholar at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England. His ideas on leadership and followership have influenced cultures within the U.S. military, civilian agencies, and international institutions, including the European Union and the British Army.
