We often imagine a leader as someone who walks in front – someone who knows the way, gives direction, makes decisions and expects others to follow.

But over the years, I have come to believe that a good leader is not always the one who leads from the front. Sometimes, the best thing a leader can do is follow the followers.

I like to describe this journey through a simple analogy – the Duck and the Chicken.

When a team is young, inexperienced or uncertain, the leader needs to be like a duck. The duck takes the lead, sets the direction and ensures the flock keeps moving. At this stage, the team needs clarity, guidance and someone willing to take responsibility.

But as the team gains experience, confidence and ownership, the leader needs to become more like a chicken – staying with the group, observing where they are going and being willing to follow their collective wisdom.

The real test of leadership is not how long you can remain at the front. It is knowing when to step back and let your team lead.

My learning from IT

During my IT career, I initially believed that being a good leader meant being involved in almost everything.

When a new project started, I wanted to understand the details, participate in planning, review the work, solve problems and often guide the team on how things should be done.

At that stage, I was the duck – and the team needed me to be one.

When people are new to a project or working together for the first time, too much freedom can create confusion rather than empowerment. Someone needs to establish priorities, remove ambiguity, make difficult decisions and give the team confidence.

But something changes as a team matures.

People who initially came to me with questions started coming with solutions.

Instead of asking, “What should we do?”, they started saying, “We have considered these options and believe this is the best approach.”

That was when I realised that my role needed to change.

I learned to stop immediately answering every question. Instead, I started asking:

“What do you think?”

“What options have you considered?”

“If you were making the decision, what would you choose?”

Initially, it sometimes felt slower. But it created something much more valuable – ownership.

The team started taking responsibility for decisions rather than simply executing instructions.

There were also situations involving tight deadlines, unexpected technical challenges and changing customer requirements. Earlier, my instinct would have been to jump in and solve the problem myself.

As the team matured, I learned to pause.

I would listen to their discussions, allow them to evaluate the options and intervene only when my experience could genuinely add value.

Many times, I discovered that they had already found the answer.

That was perhaps the most satisfying part of leadership.

It was no longer “I solved the problem for my team.”

It was “My team solved the problem without needing me to solve it for them.”

From Duck to Chicken

A mature team doesn’t need a leader constantly telling them where to go.

Sometimes, the team has a better idea. Sometimes, someone has developed expertise that the leader doesn’t possess. And sometimes, the people closest to the problem simply understand it better.

A leader who insists on always being at the front can eventually become a bottleneck.

There is a beautiful paradox in leadership:

The better you lead, the less the team needs you to lead them.

The journey of leadership, therefore, is not simply about moving from follower to leader.

It is about knowing when to be the Duck that leads from the front, and when to become the Chicken that follows the followers.

Because ultimately, a leader’s greatest achievement is not having everyone follow him.

It is building a team so capable and confident that the leader can comfortably follow them.