From Orbiting the Giant Hairball : A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace
If we were to think of waterskiing as a metaphor for leading and following, the person at the wheel, in the boat, dry, would represent the leader. And the skier in the water, wet, would be the follower.
Wherever the leader goes, the follower goes. If, for reasons unknown to the follower, the leader decides to steer the boat though an area where clusters of reeds are growing up out of the water, about three feet tall, the reaction of the follower might be:
“Why are we goin’ over there? This is gonna hurt. And it’s gonna hurt me, not you!“
If you are a skier in this situation, you have at least a couple of options another than being whipped painfully through the reeds.
Option #1:
You can let go of the towline. Become an entrepreneur — on your own, in the middle of the lake.
Option #2:
You can become a better waterskier. Learn to ski out beyond the confines of the boat’s wake, way ‘round to the right, thus dodging some of the threatening reeds. Then, describing a great broad arc, ski back over the wake, wake again and way ‘round to the left, avoiding more reeds.
Every point on the arc is a point of legitimate following.