The Middle River Group, LLC

fly fishing, conservation and politics.

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First Follower Theory

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I am a student of leadership so when this showed up in my @tenkaraguide twitters this morning:

I hit the youtube link and watched. You can too. It is 3 minutes, worth watching, very entertaining and visually delivers an important leadership lesson.

There is no movement without the first follower

A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he’s doing is so simple, it’s almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!

Now comes the first follower with a crucial role: he publicly shows everyone how to follow. Notice the leader embraces him as an equal, so it’s not about the leader anymore – it’s about them, plural. Notice he’s calling to his friends to join in. It takes guts to be a first follower! You stand out and brave ridicule, yourself. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.

A little more research took me to Derek Sivers. He put up the video and narrates it. It is on his blog along with the transcript: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy.

The take aways for me:

1) Someone has to be the dancing guy, that is leadership but it is overrated. we can’t all be leaders.

2) The first follower is courageous and is the real ignition for the movement.

3) It takes time to build a movement and followers may come and go (read the comments).

Sivers summation works for me:

The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow.

When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first person to stand up and join in.

Tenkara? Sure.

The whole tenkara thing fits the first follower model hence @tenkarausa’s tweet to a couple of us early adopters.

Important keys to success in creating a movement are the leader embracing the followers as equals and the first followers showing others how to follow.

While calling the adoption of tenkara in this country a movement may be a stretch at this point, it clearly is gaining followers. The lessons of the Dancing Guy are pretty evident. Most importantly those early followers are showing others how to follow. Tenkara will continue to grow because of this willingness to share the knowledge and encouraging others to try tenkara.

There is a lesson here as well for those of us in the fly-fishing business:

  • Are you making it easy to follow you?
  • Are you welcoming them into the movement?
  • Are you sharing the knowledge?

From what I have seen the successful fly-fishing businesses can answer yes to these questions. Those who don’t look at new ideas and ways of doing business are not helping to build the fly-fishing movement.

Tenkara may be a good case study on how to help fly-fishing grow. It starts with the first follower theory.

What do you think?

 

Conservation and the fly-fishing business

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A call to action

A recent post on Moldy Chum challenged fly-fishing businesses to step up their game when it comes to conservation:

“I would challenge our industry to use its resources to be even stronger advocates for the environment. If we lend the weight of our industry to the environmental causes that are crucial to the health of our planet, it will also be good for the bottom line.”

That notion was echoed by Sam Snyder on his Headwaters blog:

“The future of our fisheries depend upon diverse communities, diverse fisheries, and diverse thinking. If you cherish your habit, religion, sport, or whatever you want to call it, I am inclined to say that you have no business in this sport if you don’t take conservation seriously.”

Conservation creates recreational opportunity that translates into economic activity. It’s really that simple.

If you work in the fly-fishing industry you get it. You see it every day, whether you are on the water or in the shop or in the factory. Your bottom line depends on the health of the watersheds your customers visit with your products in hand.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands this vital equation. But those in the media who do are laying the importance of protecting the environment at the feet of sportsmen and women who MUST come around, especially if they hope to pass their sporting heritage down to coming generations (your future customers, mind you).

For instance:

  • Bob Marshal warned us, This will be the year that will test the commitment of the outdoors community.
  • Hal Herring took up the battle cry when he wrote, Are There Any Politicians Who Really Understand Sportsmen’s Concerns?
  • Kirk Deeter added his voice in, Should Conservation Be a Political Issue? and then sounded the alarm loud and strong by writing, Proposed Conservation Funding Cuts Could Devastate Fly Fishing Resources.

    • Will you lend a hand or sit back and wait for others to take action?

    As someone who has spent 20 years incorporating my love for fly-fishing into my conservation advocacy work, I strongly believe our industry can make a difference in the conservation challenges facing our country and our businesses. If that is going to happen, then those of us in the fly-fishing business are going to have to get involved.

    Sure, everybody says “we” need to do something. Problem is, all too often that “we” really means “they.”  So I am putting me in for the we this time.

    In order to help organize that collective weight of our industry, I am compiling and coordinating a group of men and women in the fly-fishing business who will give voice and personality to local, regional and national conservation challenges.

    You understand first-hand the economic benefit that outdoor recreation provides to small businesses, many of them in rural areas where economic benefits are hard to find or come at a high price to the lands and waters.

    If you are in the fly-fishing business I want you to be part of that group and one of those voices.

    What can you do?

    It is really pretty simple, and won’t take a lot of your time.

    There are a number of conservation challenges coming our way. It is my business to keep track of them and work with conservation groups to create advocacy messages to respond to them.

    When an opportunity arises to author an op-ed or letter to the editor, sign on to an advertisement, speak with a reporter or blogger, or take other action, I will contact you so that your voice can be included in the conservation discussions. It will be my job to create the message—your time commitment will be minimal.

    Each opportunity will always be permission-based and voluntary. You will always have the opportunity to decide if you want to participate.

    As someone in the business, you offer a unique perspective on conservation challenges and I hope you will be willing to help.

    This is a collaborative process; your questions, thoughts and suggestions are most welcome!

    If you are interested leave a comment and I will follow up with you.

    AFFTA Board election draws a crowd

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    This is really impressive. Twenty-eight people have thrown their fishing hats into the proverbial ring for the nine seats available on the American Fly Fishing Trade Associations board.

    As a board member this is a really exciting time. After some of the kicking around that AFFTA has gotten, deserved or not, the fact that so many people wanted to be part of the solution is wonderful. With so many folks stepping up to not just be a member but be a part of the leadership of AFFTA shows that folks care about having a strong trade association.

    If you are not a member of AFFTA you can’t vote so now might be a good time to join. AFFTA is changing and you should be a part of it.

    You can find Membership benefits info here.

    Join today!

    The candidates are listed below with links to the information they sent in to AFFTA.

    Eric Anderson, Owner – Bighorn River Fly Fisher

    Larry Barrett, Director Operations and Technology – Farbank

    Crispin Battles, Editor/Art Director – Fly Fish America

    Andrew Bennett, President – Deneki Outdoors

    John Bleh, Owner – Strategic Outdoor Marketing

    Dustin Carlson, Owner – Fishwest

    Bruce Chard, Owner & CEO – Captain Bruce Chard Fishing Charters

    Riley Cotter, International Sales Manager – Umpqua Feather Merchants

    Jerry Darkes, Owner – Angling Consulting Services, Inc

    Charles Dohs, President & Co-Founder – Fishhound.com

    Jon Fisher, Managing Member – Urban Angler

    Katheryn Fox, National Program Director – Casting for Recovery

    Mike Gawtry, Product Line Manager Fishing/Hunting – LL Bean

    Ali Gentry, Owner & CEO – El Pescador Lodge

    Scott Harkins, Owner – San Miguel Mnt. & River Products

    Chris Hart, Owner – Sundown River Products, Inc.

    David S. Heller, President & Co-Owner – Ross Reels USA/Ross Worldwide Outdoors

    Jim Murphy, President – Hardy North America

    Al Noraker, Designer, Senior Merchandise Manager – Wright McGill

    David Olson, Managing Partner – The Fly Shop of Miami

    Clint Packo, Owner – Freestone Aquatics

    Pat Pendergast, Director of International Travel – The Fly Shop Inc.

    John Pinto, Owner – B&C  Manufacturing & Import

    Curt Schlesinger, President – Trout & Grouse

    Kevin Sousa, CEO – March Brown Limited

    Guy Tillotson, Owner – Grand Slam Group

    Jeff Wieringa, Business Development Manager – Scientific Anglers

    Dusty Wissmath, Director – Dusty Wissmath’s Fly Fish School/Guide Service