Leaders are supposed to be at the front of the line. They are supposed to be showing the way. Right? That’s Leadership from above. It’s good for some places, but it’s not efficient. It can cause strain in your organization if the leadership is always on top. If you want a good, well-rounded manager, you want leadership from below. They have to be ready to take the smallest job if that’s the one that makes the most sense. Do you want a good leader? Find yourself the best gofer in the organization and train them for leadership roles.

I was in Aurora, Philippines. My intern, an American who was not familiar with bidets, had just clogged the toilet. Around me everyone was exchanging looks, trying to decide who was going to have to figure out how to unclog the toilet. Someone procured a plunger and a phone to YouTube how to do it.

I rolled up my sleeves. I unclogged that toilet.

There were protests as, technically, I was one of the highest-ranking people there. They had expected me to give orders, to delegate. But at that moment, I realized that I was the woman for the job. I was the only person who had ever unclogged a toilet before. Rank didn’t matter, getting the job done did.

My management style is to be a gofer. And this is a case for it.

What Is A Gofer?

A gofer will gofer whatever is needed in the moment. They are the types of leaders who assess the tasks and responsibilities to achieve a goal and delegate every task until the dregs are left. They will do those jobs, no matter how small or undesirable.

At first glance, a gofer is a lackey or an errand boy. The gofer is the smallest job on a movie set, but good gofers know the ins and outs of the set. They know everyone’s secrets and how everyone works together. The gofers that work their way up from that position make the best producers. These are the leaders who made their way up from service positions. They know how to get down and dirty.

Gofers make excellent project managers. The bigger the project, the more it needs a gofer. Someone who will take any job and do it well. There are many different kinds of leadership that will vie for your attention, but the gofers will quietly get the job done and then get out of the way.

These kinds of leaders have to know the entire organization. They need to know how each cog connects and what powers each portion of the machine. They have to be able to fit themselves well in that position and never take pride into account.

They are supportive. They are the back bone of their organization, and they make the whole machine run smoothly.

Gofers Can Be Proud, But They Aren’t Braggy

Gophers can come in one of two ways: the showboaters who know they can do any job, and the workhorses who keep their heads down and do their work. Both are effective and both can be taught to lead a team.

The Showboaters tend to be eager to please. They are always chomping at the bit to be given a job to run with. There is confidence in knowing you can do a job and do it well, no matter what it is.

The Workhorses aren’t always flashy or showy so it’s easy to overlook them, but they are the most likely to get the job done. Most of them will let the work speak for itself.

Gofers are humble, even the arrogant ones. There is humility in knowing that you are the person for the job and then doing the job to the best of your ability, no matter how small it is.

Gofers are good at knowing their limitations and where they can grow. Often, they will even delegate praise. Diverting it away from themselves to highlight the contributions of the team.

Gofers Look Good In Hats

The gofers are the ones who will go for the job no one wants. They are able to see the bigger picture and break it down into smaller manageable pieces, they also tend to know who to put in charge of which piece and they will take whatever is left over and do it well.

Gofers are chameleons, they make themselves into whatever their organization needs at any given time. And usually, they are able to do what they set out to do.

If you are just starting out and your organization needs someone well-rounded, look for a gofer. They will be able to wear almost any hat you need them to wear in your organization.

Gofers Get What They Need From You

Another skill gophers have is the ability to get what they need from their team. Not only are they able to subtly motivate them, they are also able to position their teammates in the best places for the organization to make the best use of them.

A good example of this is the interrogation scene in the first Avengers movie, Loki didn’t realize that he was a part of the Black Widow’s team, but she got what she needed from him by clever use of his own expectations. More on famous gofers later.

Gofer’s management style can be manipulative, but it’s not passive.

Generate More Generalists

We live in a highly specialized world. Everything is targeted, and every job needs training. But what happened to all the jack of all trades? The people who are good at everything but not really great at any one thing. The saying, after all, goes: “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”

These days, what we are looking for is a person with T-shaped skills. A broad knowledge on top with a deep knowledge of one facet to complement. This might be an excellent team member, but a team leader?

A leader should have a broad base of knowledge and several of those deep skills to do their job well. Their T should look more like a mangled M or an ᗵ, they need that broad range of skills, a few deeper skills, but they also need to know how these deeper skills connect and intersect.

Famous Gofers

A good example of a gofer is Black Widow from the Avengers Series. Black Widow is an essential part of the team, she – despite not having powers of her own – closed the portal in the first Avengers movie. She is the one Captain America turns to when he has no one. She is the one who holds the organization together during the time of the greatest crisis.

Jon Snow is a gofer. At first, he chafed under the title of “steward” in Castle Black looking for glory as an adventurer, but the leadership of the Night’s watch saw his potential, his humility, and his willingness to do the dirtiest jobs himself. Who did the executions? Jon. Who led the army? Jon. He never shied away from the job no one else wanted to do.

In the Lord Of the Rings movie, Aragorn is a gofer. He immediately lets Arwen take Frodo since she’s the swifter rider. Despite being the “hero” and the one true king, he recognizes that someone else will do the heroic job better than he would and he lets her go. He, instead, follows with the other hobbits in a decidedly less glamorous role. But that’s the beauty of a gofer, they aren’t out for the glamor, they are out to achieve their goals.

How Do You Know If You Have A Gofer?

• They aren’t afraid to look stupid. You know you have a gofer when they are willing to try something even if it may fail.
• They have favorite YouTubers. You know a gofer by their tools of the trade and YouTube is an important place to learn things for free.
• They speak up for themselves. If they make a mistake or a misstep they usually have a reason and will be able to explain their rationale.
• They stay after class. A gofer is always looking to learn and many of them will ask for clarity on points they are not sure of.
• They have initiative. The most important quality of a gofer is the self-motivation to find a job to do.
• They play well with others. A gofer is usually the cheerleader of the team, they know everyone’s jobs and are not shy about letting a teammate know when they’ve done good work.

Some Downsides To a Gofer

• They can have short attention spans. Many of them have entrepreneurial spirits and are always looking for opportunities.
• Their Can-Do attitude is great until they can’t do. Sometimes gofers can take on a job that is too much for them, and it takes them some time to find their footing.
• Details can fall through the cracks. Gofers are expert delegators and they are great at making sure the job gets done in a timely manner, but sometimes they can be sloppy about the execution.
• Prone to distraction. Gofers are go-getters and they are always looking for something to do. But that can be a good thing or a bad thing in an organization.
• They do not stand on ceremony. This can be a problem in the Philippines where rank is very important; gofers sometimes have to be reminded of their place.

Let Gofers Lead

Gofers are not flashy, but they are accomplished. Many of them have goals outside the company and extracurricular activities where they hone skills they can use in your organization. They are valuable teammates and have massive leadership potential.

Gofers will do any job no matter how small if it means that the team archives its goals. They are no-nonsense workers and tend to disregard rank. They look at all team members as equal partners in the success of the whole.

If you find yourself a gofer, start training them for leadership roles. Many of them are well suited to management and will go far in your organization. Every organization has its own version of a clogged toilet in the middle of Aurora province. Make sure you mark which of your teammates immediately reaches for the plunger.