On September 15th, Tom Finegan, Clarkston CEO and co-founder, published his first book Amplifiers: How Great Leaders Magnify the Power of Teams, Increase the Impact of Organizations, and Turn Up the Volume on Positive Change. His book about leaders and followers quickly moved up the bestseller charts, and I was excited to connect with Tom on Taking Stock to ask him some questions that were on my mind about the book and his writing process. I wanted to know why he was driven to write Amplifiers and why he felt this was an important message for us right now. I was also interested in Tom’s perspective on how to apply the learnings from Amplifiers outside of the organization – in driving societal change and in life.

We discussed the concept of followership, the differences between real leadership and artificial leadership and why companies should be looking at talent development differently. Of course, we also talked about amplifiers and why they can be so hard to find.

My favorite moment from our discussion is when we talked about the different traits, motives and styles of followers, and how these are different in many ways from a leader.  We talk about how being a follower can be stigmatized yet when these followership traits and leadership traits are synthesized into a true Amplifier, organization are able to achieve outsized results.

I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with entrepreneur, leadership expert, and now a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Tom Finegan.

You can download and listen to Amplifiers, Leaders, and Followers: Taking Stock with Tom Finegan podcast episode here.

Taking Stock

In this podcast series, Clarkston Consulting Partner Steve Rosenstock sits down with experts and thought leaders from both within Clarkston and throughout its consumer products and life sciences client-base, covering a range of topics from industry trends and consumer dynamics, to organizational governance and business strategy. Steve provides you access into the passions of its guests and allows you to benefit from their stories, knowledge, and deep expertise.

Amplifiers: Leaders and Followers

Contact ampifiers@clarktonconsulting.com if you are interested in connecting with Tom Finegan for a talk or workshop activity on leadership and followership styles, traits, or motives. For additional information about Amplifiers, visit info.clarkstonconsulting.com/amplifiers.