Our team encountered a challenge last Tuesday. Should we change our strategy or stick with it? Voices bounced around the conference table. I sat in that familiar space. I was weighing when to speak up and when to shut up.
For over fifteen years of work across three continents, a question has plagued me. It resurfaced recently. Am I truly a leader, or am I a follower? Through spectacular failures and occasional wins, I’ve discovered the answer hides in the messy middle. From offices in Harare, Geneva, Brazzaville, Pretoria, Seychelles, and Antananarivo, I’ve realized these roles aren’t fixed identities. They’re choices we make daily.
The False Dichotomy
I hate this question. “Leader or follower?” It’s as though we’re categorizing people into two distinct groups.
Early in my career days in the Seychelles Islands, I thought leadership meant never showing weakness. I’d prepare obsessively before meetings, terrified that a moment’s hesitation would expose me as a fraud. Exhausting.
Then a senior colleague caught me hyperventilating in the break room after a presentation gone sideways.
“You know what made me trust my first real boss?” she asked, handing me a cup of terrible office coffee. “When he looked at me and said, ‘I have no idea how to fix this, but I bet you do.’”
We are approaching the situation incorrectly. The real world doesn’t neatly divide into leaders and followers. It requires people who understand when each role helps achieve goals.
Contextual Leadership: Knowing When to Step Forward
A few years back, our team got blindsided by administrative changes nobody saw coming. While everyone panicked, I realized I’d navigated almost identical chaos in my previous job years earlier. That day, I decided to step forward. It wasn’t motivated by ego. Rather, it was about using my relevant experience to stem the flow.
I’ve noticed effective leadership pops up when:
You have skills others don’t. During an implementation nightmare last summer, my background in management suddenly mattered after months of feeling irrelevant.
The room feels off. During budget talks in Seychelles, I watched people avoiding eye contact when projections appeared on the screen. Nobody was challenging numbers everyone knew were garbage.
“Sarah flagged those capacity problems to me yesterday.” I said into the awkward silence. “I realized we’ve got a blind spot. Who else sees something we’re missing?” Three hands shot up immediately. The relief was physical.
Purposeful Following: The Strength in Supporting
Following has its own power. It’s not weakness—it’s strategic. In my current role, I run content across countries. I routinely step aside for our regional experts. This step is especially important when dealing with cultural nuances.
During last month’s campaign development in Antananarivo, I made it clear. Asina has been deeply involved with the target group. She has worked with them for five years. “I’m following her lead on messaging.” I am not evading responsibility—rather, I am acknowledging the true source of expertise.
Real following looks like:
Active listening extends beyond simply waiting for your turn. When our Antananarivo team presented their localization strategy, I took furious notes. I did not immediately push back with our Geneva playbook.
Occasionally, it’s just saying, “What Alex suggested about user pathways is precisely what we need.” This approach ensures a junior team member’s insight doesn’t get steamrolled.
The Fluidity of Professional Identity
The best people I’ve worked with across three continents share one trait. They slide between leading and following effortlessly. I learned how to do this from a finance executive I worked with in Pretoria. In strategy sessions, she commanded attention effortlessly. During technical discussions, she became the most curious person in the room. She asked basic questions that others were too proud to voice.
This fluidity demands brutal self-awareness. It means saying “I don’t know” without flinching.
When our platform crashed during peak traffic last quarter, I had to admit, “I’m useless here. Jude, you’ve fixed this before—what’s our move?” That moment of vulnerability didn’t wreck my credibility. It built it.
Cultural Dimensions of Leading and Following
Work across borders teaches you fast that leadership looks wildly different place to place. A direct approach that gets results in Pretoria might torpedo relationships in Geneva. The collaborative style is highly valued in many African and Geneva work environments. It often appears less valued and ambiguous to colleagues elsewhere.
I watched this play out during a global project launch. Our Geneva team led through patient consensus-building. The Asian pushed for quick, clear directives. Neither approach was better—but understanding the difference saved us weeks of frustration.
The Path Forward: Intentional Role Selection
Forget asking if you’re a leader or follower. Try these instead:
- What specific assistance does this mess require from me at this moment?
- In what ways can my unique blend of experiences be beneficial?
- Who around me has expertise I should amplify, not override?
I keep a quick log after important meetings—noting whether I mostly led or followed, why, and what happened. Patterns emerge. Some are surprising.
Conclusion: Beyond the Binary
The question isn’t whether you’re a leader or follower. It’s about whether you have the wisdom to know which role the moment needs. Leadership isn’t an identity—it’s temporary service. Following isn’t weakness—it’s strategic choice.
Through years of work across wildly different cultures, I’ve seen that truly respected professionals speak both languages fluently. They step up confidently when their expertise matters. They step back without ego when others bring better ideas.
Pay attention this week. Notice when you instinctively push forward or hang back. What drives those moves? Are these decisions conscious or rooted in old habits? Real professional growth may not solely revolve around becoming a better leader or follower. Developing the intuitive ability to identify the role that will effectively address the current issue is crucial.
About the Author
Jude is a senior United Nations professional. He has a distinguished career in public service and international development. His work spans the Western Indian Ocean region. As he transitions toward retirement, he is channeling his passion for writing into personal development, culture, and mindful living. Whether in Madagascar, Seychelles, or beyond, you’ll find him crafting reflections. He often does this over a cup of tea or coffee. He is always inspired by purpose, people, and place.
L J Padayachy 
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