I may be one of the few who had not heard of Derek Sivers’ video about the importance of the first follower. What caught my attention was the simplicity and honesty of his 3-minute TED talk.

1). A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous.

2). It takes guts to be a first follower! The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader.

3). The 2nd follower is a turning point: three is a crowd and a crowd is news.

4). Once you get 2 more, then 3 more, you’ve got momentum, and the start of a movement.

“Leadership is over-glorified,” according to Derek. It’s the first follower that transforms a lone nut into a leader.

Derek points out that we are told we all need to be leaders but that would be highly ineffectual.

His conclusion is, “You find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.”

Since I started blogging three years ago, I’ve discovered many leaders I admire, however, as far as becoming the first follower, I don’t think I ever have. Now if I was lucky enough to discover ” a lone nut doing something great,” I wouldn’t hesitate to become his/her first follower.

Have you had the guts to stand up and join in something great?

Please share.