Robert Kelley's Followership Survey

The two theories that I chose to do my self-assessment by are the authentic leadership theory and the servant leadership theory. The authentic leadership theory was chosen due to my desire to stay true to who I am and what I stand for. However, the servant leadership theory was chosen because of my desire to meet the needs of others while doing what I can to help others succeed as well as meet their set goals. Being a servant while being authentic are the traits I want in my style of leadership and are assessed throughout this paper along with my strengths and weaknesses in the area of leadership.

It seems self-evident that one cannot be a leader unless he or she has followers; put differently, one cannot hold a leadership role unless others are prepared to hold followership roles. These roles are more or less symbiotic - done effectively, each role can support and benefit the other. Nevertheless, the term “follower” has acquired a negative connotation, and leadership is generally considered to be the pinnacle to which we should all strive in our working lives, if not our personal lives as well. However, thanks to the work of authors such as Robert E. Kinney, who introduced the concept of followership, the characteristics, roles and paths of followers now receive increased attention. Kinney’s groundbreaking article, “In Praise of

In followership there needs to be a leader that inspires and bonds followers together as a unit moving in one direction. Today’s leader has to be more than someone that was placed in a position of authority, a person with a title and a higher salary level. A real leader is found when the behaviors and attitudes of their

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines followership as “the capacity or willingness to follow a leader”. Over the last several years, there’s been a huge interest in leadership. However, former HP Executive Vice President, Vyomesh Joshi, shared that the key to being a great leader is not about leadership but instead the real attribute is

The six leading styles: Ambassador (19/25), advocate (20/25), people mover (21/25), truth-seeker (20/25), creative builder (18/25), and experienced guide (21/25) scored the highest on my leadership style assessment. The characteristics which were identified as strengths of mine are mainly relationship oriented such as diffusing difficult situations, advocating in a group, seeing the potential in people, maintaining fairness and neutrality, and empathy. These were not a surprise to me as I have taken other leadership assessments and have always scored the same types of characteristics.

Followers help leaders manifest their vision. Successful followers (supporters or team members) come in a wide variety of personal characteristics. There are people who may be good followers who do not make good leaders or even want to be leaders, but there are no good leaders who are not good followers. A good leader was once a follower. Without followers there is no leadership in any organization. Leaders can develop effective followers as followers develop effective leaders. The performance of followers and leaders of an organization are variables that depend on one another. Both roles are proactive together they can

Overall, this assessment reveals both strengths and weaknesses from which I can learn and improve my effectiveness as a follower. From Kelley’s questionnaire, it can be seen that my strengths are commitment, enthusiasm for what I do, ability to make myself valuable, and understanding my leaders’ needs and desires. Conversely, my weaknesses in following can be summed up in a lack of initiative--a lack of initiative in bringing new ideas to the table, asking questions to gain a better understanding, and challenging other’s thinking when

Out of all the different leadership theories I learned about this semester I really feel that I best relate to transformational leadership and authentic leadership theories. During the development of my personal theory I found that these theories tended to list many similar traits, and values that aligned with my own. Additionally, both authentic and transformative theories place a significant amount of emphasis on the relationship between the leader and her/his followers. The success and influence of a leader comes not from herself but from her ability to create and invoke strong relationships with their followers. Given my character strengths of sociability, integrity, assertiveness, and my drive to connect to others on a deeper level, I value both the authentic and the transformative leadership theories.

As a good follower, I need to accept responsibility and I need to be aware of the tasks that I have to take on. I have to readily support my leader at all times and I should be able to voice my opinions to my leader in a very supportive way. Leaders can only lead an organization successfully if they have personalities that appeal to their followers. The individual reflection and big five

Van Dierendonck, D., Stam, D., Boersma, P., De Windt, N., & Alkema, J. (2014). "Same difference? Exploring the differential mechanisms linking servant leadership and transformational leadership to follower outcomes." The Leadership Quarterly, 25(3), 544-562. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.014 https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://www.sciencedirect.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S1048984313001409

The study in to the area of followership has been overshadowed by leadership for many years, and continues to lack in research studies to examine this important topic. American culture may be partly responsible for “follower” having a negative connotation. Sayings like “always a leader, never a follower” help to reinforce this idea. Leaders are looked upon as an elite class, while followers are viewed as people who did not achieve.

If we use the Zenger-Folkman evaluation I received and place it in context with Jim Collins’ Level 5 Hierarchy, we would see that I fall within the “Effective” level of leadership. There are areas that I am strong at and areas that could use definite improvement. An “Effective” leader is one who stimulates high standards and has a dedicated vision. I expect high standards out of those who I work with. I do my best to communicate these standards so that everyone is aware of what I

When taking the two leadership surveys, it was interesting to see my personal leadership profile. My leadership style according to the survey is the instructional type, which in another world is direct leadership. My culture, upbringing, and work environment have transformed me to be direct leaders that are looking for stability. My staff members sadly do not have the opportunity to have a job that is autonomy; working in a manufacturing occupation, one has an organize agenda that cannot be deviated from the task ahead. When team members are needing help or trying to build the familiarity to run their equipment my personal leadership profile can be helpful, since being direct is a starting point to build knowledge. The more one individual shows knowledge, familiar, and passionate for their own results, the further laissez-faire I will become when proving they

Chapter one portrays the importance on followers and provides some insight and labels different types of followers. Riggio et al (2008), provides examples on the various styles of individuals as followers, for instance, the sheep, the yes-people, the alienated, the pragmatics, and the star followers. Furthermore, these classes of followers provide a better understanding to leaders on why one performs in an organization.

Effective followership is an essential component of effective leadership in that, without good followers, the leader’s work is difficult and cumbersome. The role of the follower is many times understated. As illustrated by Kelley (1998), “effective followers are thinkers; energetic and assertive, self-starters, independent problem solvers, and carry out their tasks with these characteristics (p. 143). Effective followers also are characterized by their ability to perform tasks with little supervision, their intelligence, and ability to think for themselves. We are all followers, even those who consider themselves leaders; so to encourage this effectiveness in others; we must be role models for those under us, so that they may also be effective at following. Chaleff (2009) observed that “all important social accomplishments require complex