Lead, follow or get out of the way. Failing to know which to do is probably one of the most annoying and frustrating things I have to deal with on a constant basis. It is usually one person on the project that is suppose to lead, follow or get out of the way that fails to do so and the whole project gets FUBARed. It is mainly due to them not understanding their role or accepting their role on the project.

A while ago I was meeting with Janet, an employee of a client. We were to go over some final details for their website. Janet had been appointed by the owner as my main and only contact. She knew the business inside and out and would be able to get me the information I needed to do my job except for one area. That is where Brad came in. The whole time I had been working with Janet, Brad was there, waiting to push her out of the way. He couldn’t accept that for this project his role was to follow Janet’s lead and give information about his area in the company. At every turn I would get “his version” of information for the website. It was very frustrating to not only me but to Janet too. If she didn’t give him the time of day to say his input he would run to the owner. Wasting everyone’s time.