We don’t follow titles.  We don’t follow companies.  We don’t even follow people.  We follow ideas.

Nobody worth interacting with cares what your rank is, what box you occupy on the org chart, who you work for or what your personal attributes are.  (I’m assuming that you are–of course–neatly attired, polite, an expert in something, and can communicate in the language of your audience.)

The doers of the world, those with expertise, those with the willingness to help others care about The Idea above all.  They’ll ask themselves “Is this is a good idea?” “How can I test that assumption?” “What else can I do with that idea?” “Can I add this to another good idea?” “How can I help?” “Should I get involved?” “Who else might I recruit?”

When you ask these kinds of questions out loud or to yourself, you’re doing something very important.  You’re paying attention.

And at that point, as Jason Fried points out, the investment is of the most precious commodity of them all.  Attention.

Demonstrating Leadership Through Attention

Anybody with a title and an org chart can get anybody to comply with a request.  Issue this report weekly by Tuesday, in ten point type, or else.  They recipient of that message will surely do that work.

But they’ll comply, not internalize that task.  And they won’t follow that title and org-chart driven tyrant off a cliff.

But when you can convince people to really, truly pay attention to that idea, you don’t have compliance.  You have the beginnings of a movement.

And anybody can start a movement. All it takes is a leader, with some ideas that get people’s attention.

Takeaway:  Not getting enough attention? It’s not your title or box on the org chart.  Get some better ideas. Gain attention of doers. Form a movement and win.