Top Tips for Beginner Divers: Leadership and Followership

“I Was Just Following”

It was John’s first trip after qualifying as an Advanced Open Water diver. He was excited. He’d recently joined a new dive club, and this was his first boat charter, and most importantly, a chance to get out of the quarry and into the sea. Paired with a more experienced diver named Shona, he felt reassured. She had hundreds of dives. He only had nine.

The briefing was quick, a bit rushed. Shona said, “Stick with me. It will be an easy bimble.” John nodded, not wanting to seem needy or uncertain. They stepped through the gate on the back of the boat, entered the water, and after making the “I’m okay” hand signal on the head, they both descended. They swam over to the reef wall and began heading along it. Within a few minutes, Shona was five metres ahead. She’d turn occasionally, give a ‘circled thumb and finger’ okay, and carry on.

John was having buoyancy issues, stressing over whether he’d got enough weight, and so breathing more deeply than needed. He was getting flustered. And he didn’t want to signal; he didn’t want to spoil Shona’s dive.

A little while later, about halfway through the planned dive time, Shona turned and realised John was gone.

John had ascended early, feeling uncomfortable and behind. They’d tried to signal his intentions and concerns, but Shona was too far ahead. Shona searched for a minute, ascended, identified where the boat was, and started a surface swim back.

Shona was tired as the boat was anchored in and couldn’t leave the site, and she had a long swim. She was annoyed: “You should have let me know!” John felt humiliated. “I thought I was supposed to just follow.”

But that’s the problem.

“Just following” isn’t enough.

Being a good follower means speaking up, checking in, and taking responsibility. And being a good leader means noticing when your teammate is struggling — even if they don’t say anything.

This is not easy because we often don’t get the chance to see what ‘normal’ looks like. Differences are easy to spot when you’re used to ‘normal’, and because of the differences across the whole diving community, what does ‘normal’ actually mean anyway?

As they talked over the dive using a structured debrief they’d picked up from The Human Diver, while waiting for others to surface, they both realised the dive had failed not because of bad intentions, but because of missing expectations — on both sides. They had moved from who had failed to what conditions led to the failure happening.

Leading Without Rank, Following With Purpose

When beginner divers hear ‘leadership’, they often think, 'That’s not me'. And they’re right, beginners aren’t leading dives. But leadership in the context of a recreational activity, or professional one for that matter, isn’t about control or authority - it’s about influence.

On a dive, leadership can be as simple as asking the right question before the dive or giving calm, clear feedback afterwards. It’s not about knowing more, it’s about caring enough to help influence safe, effective behaviour in your buddy or team. And that isn’t easy in a sport where machismo and (negative) ego are still very prevalent. 

Followership is equally misunderstood. It’s not passive. It’s not just “doing what you’re told.” Effective followers are curious, assertive, and proactive. They look out for their teammates. They speak up when something doesn’t feel right. They seek clarity. They actively support one of the key traits of effective teams, the model and execute mutual accountability. We have a standard in the team, and I expect you, as my team member, to call me out if we don’t adhere to those standards, and you expect me to hold you to those too. You can see last week’s blog for more about this.

These ideas are grounded in shared mental models and mutual respect. When roles aren’t clear or when critical assumptions are not validated, mistakes are much more likely. And if we don’t reflect or debrief, we might not know something was amiss. A strong follower can help the whole team stay aligned, especially when leaders miss things. Instructors and very experienced divers are human, too.

In many high-risk industries, followership is seen as a vital skill, not a fallback. A junior nurse can challenge a surgeon. A first officer can speak up to the captain. In diving, a newly qualified diver can (and should) ask for clarification, raise concerns, and take an active role in dive planning and execution.

It takes courage to speak up when you’re new. But courage, curiosity, and compassion are what make great followers, and eventually, great leaders.

Practical Tips – How to Lead and Follow on Day One

You don’t need experience to start building leadership and followership skills. Here’s how beginner divers can do both well: 

Be Curious and Prepared

Before the dive, ask: 

“What’s the route?”

“Who’s leading?”

“What do we do if we get separated?”

Show that you’re invested in the plan. Don’t wait for others to offer — ask.
 

Clarify Expectations 

Agree who is responsible for what — navigation, timing, depth, gas checks. Don’t assume the experienced diver “has it all.” Many don’t. This blog digs into the reason why dive briefings are so important.

Speak Up — Even If It’s Awkward

If you’re confused or concerned, likely, someone else is too. Ask a question. Research a simple question is as powerful as saying something critical when it comes to stopping social conformance

“Can we go over that part again?”

“I’m not sure I understood the signal for turnaround.”

Small clarifications prevent big problems. This is all about psychological safety.

Debrief Every Dive — As a Team

 Use simple questions:

"What surprises did we have?”

“What worked well?”

“Why did it go well?”

“What could we improve?”

“How will we do that?”

This helps both leaders and followers grow.

Watch and Learn

Notice how other divers lead or support. Copy the good. Learn from the not-so-good. Leadership and followership are built dive by dive.

Summary

Being a beginner doesn’t mean being passive. You’re already part of the team. Leadership is about influence, not experience. Followership is about responsibility, not obedience.

You can start now: ask questions, set clear expectations, speak up, thank others when they speak up, and reflect after every dive. You’ll build safer dives, stronger teams, and a foundation that’ll shape your diving for years to come.

Gareth Lock is the owner of The Human Diver. Along with 12 other instructors, Gareth helps divers and teams improve safety and performance by bringing human factors and just culture into daily practice, so they can be better than yesterday. Through award-winning online and classroom-based learning programmes, we transform how people learn from mistakes, and how they lead, follow and communicate while under pressure. We’ve trained more than 600 people face-to-face and 2500+ online across the globe, and started a movement that encourages curiosity and learning, not judgment and blame.

If you'd like to deepen your diving experience, consider the first step in developing your knowledge and awareness by taking Dive Smarter in 30 mins: The Human Factors in Diving Kickstart. If you're curious and want to get the weekly newsletter, you can sign up here and select 'Newsletter' from the options