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Leadership and Followship: what tango teaches

posted May 13, 2014, 7:26 PM by Sophia de Lautour   [ updated Jun 12, 2017, 8:38 PM ]

In this TED video 'Leaders and Followers: What Tango Teachers' tango teachers Shana Fabiano and Isaac Oboka, use Argentine Tango as a metaphor for effective following in non-dance situations. 

Whilst the video has been designed with that purpose in mind, it is useful viewing for novice Tango followers - as it highlights how active and dynamic their role actually is.

I particularly like Shana's words at the end of
the video:

"I've always been interested in how the approach of the follower can influence the creative potential of the leader. In tango the leader / follower relationship is always complementary and never hierarchichal. It's a conversation in which we help each other make our own unique contributions to the dance."

The video was directed by Ira Chaleff,  author of the 'Courageous Follower' and 'The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders', and co-author of 'The Art of Followship'. 

The general theme of Ira's work is how followers can contribute to effective leadership and to organizations overall.
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