The Art Of Followership : How Great Followers Create Great Leaders And Organizations

The workforce within any organization is the engine that keeps the business moving forward. Positive leadership, as well as effective and competent following, could be the difference between success and failure for a business. Effective leadership and followers should have a symbiotic relationship, which is the most effective way a business will meet its goals. It can be seen within Jake’s Pet Land case study that there truly is a difference between leadership styles amongst different leaders. While Philip and Jan took a different approach to being a leader, Adam’s role of the follower stayed the same. Adam continued to exemplify the best characteristics possible as a follower in order to make the business as

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

Followership can be defined as the willingness to follow a leader, to work effectively as a team member, and exhibit loyalty to the leaders. Cadets exhibiting followership should not be afraid to ask for help from their leaders in order to improve themselves. When a follower feels the need to voice differences of opinions, it should be done so respectively.

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

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

The role of the follower and the quality of the relationship itself are informally negotiated between followers and their leaders over time (Gils, Quaquebeke, & Knippenberg, 2009). Based on the LMX theory, leaders build a special relationship with an inner circle, or “in-group”, of followers, who often get high levels of responsibility and access to resources. The in-group members work harder and are more committed to task objectives. They are also expected to be totally committed and loyal to their leader. Conversely, other followers fall in the “out-group" and are given low levels of choice or influence. Aggression, sarcasm and a self-centered view are qualities seen in the out-group. The quality of the LMX relationship varies and is better when the challenge of the job is extremely high or extremely low (Graen et al., 1982).

Although, it is the effective followers that are the key components to the success and progress of a business. Effective followers push forward the development of a corporation and are the backbone to any successful business. The first characteristic that makes up an effective follower is ambition. An ambitious individual is determined to work hard in order to achieve success. Many people have intellect but they lack ambition.

2. Followership should be viewed as an active skill that must be developed in order to be considered an effective follower. According to the Air and Space Power Journal (Winter 2004), followership is considered a discipline that when viewed from a professional perspective is considered both an art and a science, requiring a balance between the development of skills and the understanding of followership roles within a professional

The book “Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders” by L. David Marquet, Captain, US Navy (Retired) is the book we selected to review. Our group selected this manuscript because of the inspiring story behind the captivating title. A combination of intrigue and necessity inspired our group to examine this manuscript for its valuable motivating material about leadership and the art of delegation.

Followerfirst perspective somewhat contradicts Meyer and Slechta’s teachings. The authors stated everyone is always a leader. Their inverted pyramid theory proclaimed, when the leaders are at the bottom of the pyramid they become the servant (Meyers 2002, 18), as Jesus demonstrated while on earth. The leaders share knowledge and expertise from all levels up the organization, rather than letting it trickle downward. The inverted pyramid is symbolic of a deeper truth that everyone leads, at

The contents and assignment in this course has helped me understand the various theories of leadership and how different leadership styles can have a negative or positive effect on followers and organizations. The leadership theories helped me understand the concept of leadership better because it educates me on the different leadership options that are available. Leadership and followership is not based on specific characteristics. Leaders must draw from things and approaches to find the right style. A follower’s attitude determines the way a leader leads. According to Johnson (2011) “Being a good follower means ensuring your boss is supported, but only if he is making optimum decisions”.

353). Leadership and followership dynamics make up an effective CRM. It is the understanding of each person’s role and responsibility on the team. Furthermore, it is being able to comprehend how those specific roles impact effective decision making and CRM as a whole. No matter what position a person holds, each crewmember must learn to become a leader within their specific position. Leadership is a reciprocal process which requires both the leader and the follower to apply specific behaviors associated with that role to ensure effective performance. Additionally, leadership characteristics includes the ability to establish competence (including technical, social and managerial areas), the ability to disavow perfection, and the capability to engage the crew. On the other hand, followership characteristics include being subordinate of personal interests, have a social capacity to work well with others, and a commitment and competency required to accomplish group goals. Followers manage themselves well, they are committed to the organization and to the purpose, principle, or person outside of themselves, and they build their competence and focus their efforts for maximum impact. Followership is not just a skill but it is an attitude that a person has. Figure 2 demonstrates the categories of

Avolio, B., Gardner, W., Walumbwa, F., & May, D. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801-823.

The Follower is a key component of the leadership balance, playing a key role in the leadership process (Baker 2007). The leadership process is affected by the expectations, capabilities, maturity, enthusiasm and personality traits of followers. Followers can be grouped into two groups, active followers who are independent, critical thinkers and passive followers who are dependant and un-critical thinkers (Kelley 1992).

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.