Derek Sivers, entrepreneur and founder of CD Baby, provides a great overview in this brilliant video analysis of what it takes to create a movement.   The crucial aspect of any movement, Sivers argues, is not as we might guess.  The first person to stand up and provoke a new idea plays an important role in getting a movement started.   In order for that crazy outlier to turn into a leader, however, you need someone to be willing to be the first to follow that leader… the “First Follower.”

Movements don’t happen overnight, so being a first follower is a vulnerable job that takes real guts.  Typically the credit for any new movement goes to the leader…not to those who follow.  Being the first follower is an ego-free act that simply says “yeah, I’m up for that”.  Think about how relieved the leader feels when that first follower joins in.  None of us wants to be alone out there…even the entrepreneurs of the world.

In a world that values individual contribution, we could all stand to build our abilities to follow and support brave acts.  Many of us strive to be leaders, but that only works if we have someone to lead; and having a group of people to lead starts with one brave soul who is willing to follow.

So go ahead, try someone else’s idea, practice rooting for them, and explore collaborating with them.  Having two collaborators will lead to better ideas overall and perhaps the dramatic change that you hope to see.

Try this:   Practice being a first follower.  At your next dance opportunity (wedding, club, party, etc), instead of strutting your own slick moves, try mimicking what the person next to you is doing.  Make eye contact with them and watch their face light up when they are flattered by your willingness to do it “their way”.  Take pride in the fact that you have turned their individual moves turn into a room-wide choreographed dance movement with them as the leader!