Meanings
- One should either take initiative, help someone who is taking initiative, or avoid hindering those who are taking initiative.
I do not believe entirely in the concept of “lead, follow or get out of the way.” Every member of a nonprofit must show leadership in his or her own way.
2021 July 12, F. Duke Haddad, “Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way”, in CapDev, archived from the original on 26 Sep 20231 more example
Whether it’s a hesitating driver or a daydreaming queue-stander, I suspect that British and American participants alike would appreciate everyone involved to either lead, follow, or get out of the way. […] And so we meet the perspective: lead, follow, or get out of the way. Do what you’re here to do, or else remove yourself from the environment and let the group reconfigure itself so that everyone else can keep moving forward.
2018 May 26, “Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way”, in Embracing Followership, archived from the original on 15 Jun 2021
Origin
Often attributed to Thomas Paine or George S. Patton.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lead, follow, or get out of the way. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lead%2C%20follow%2C%20or%20get%20out%20of%20the%20way
“lead, follow, or get out of the way.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lead%2C%20follow%2C%20or%20get%20out%20of%20the%20way. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lead, follow, or get out of the way,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lead%2C%20follow%2C%20or%20get%20out%20of%20the%20way.
Source: lead, follow, or get out of the way on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.