Lesson

The most important need of a leader is a first follower. The second follower joins not because of the leader but because of the first follower. This in part is why Airbnb took six months to hire their first engineer; they knew it would affect their culture irreversibly and that others who joined would be like that first hire.

And this prescription from Deana M. Raffo (2013)

"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.

"The 2nd follower is a turning point: it's proof the first has done well. Now it's not a lone nut, and it's not two nuts. Three is a crowd and a crowd is news.

"A movement must be public. Make sure outsiders see more than just the leader. Everyone needs to see the followers, because new followers emulate followers -not the leader. Now here come 2 more, then 3 more. Now we've got momentum. This is the tipping point! Now we've got a movement!

"As more people jump in, it's no longer risky. If they were on the fence before, there's no reason not to join now. They won't be ridiculed, they won't stand out, and they will be part of the in-crowd, if they hurry. Over the next minute you'll see the rest who prefer to be part of the crowd, because eventually they'd be ridiculed."