How to start a movement?

A fabulous 3-minute video by Derek Sivers on how to start a movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

The first follower is an underestimated form of leadership in itself… The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.

The leader has to have the courage to stand alone, and then make it easy to be followed, to share openly. The leader must support the first followers as equals, not as subordinates.

Followers Make Movements

New followers emulate the followers, not the leader…. Nurture the followers because that values the movement, not the leader.

The lone nut becomes a leader because there are followers.  The followers of the followers create the movement. Leadership, in this context, is over-rated.

A movement has to be open to attract followers.

About Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers delivering the TED Talk Followers Make Movements

Derek Sivers was a professional musician when he started selling his own CDs on his website in 1998. Friends asked if he could sell theirs, too, and he founded CD Baby. It became the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. In 2008, Sivers placed his company in a foundation and now lives on 5% of the sales from the company. A minimalist, Sivers thrives on having less.

Sivers also started MuckWork, where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work.”