What Makes A Good Follower?

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.

Firstly, it is not enough to be a good listener, one has to be an active and deep listener, with the true ability to understand what the other person is saying (Marquis & Huston, 2015). A servant-leader does not interrupt to argue, validate, or refute points, but allows free expression of the person to whom they are listening (Hunter, 1998). This demonstrates a contemplative as opposed to a reactive style, which builds trust with other people. When we have truly understood and not just heard our patient,

Leadership is the elaboration of group inspiration. One person entrusted as leader can implore the aid, and support of supporters in the accomplishment of a common mission. According to Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane “Becoming a more effective leader often requires changing behavior. But although most companies recognize that this also means adjusting underlying mind-sets, too often these organizations are reluctant to address the root causes of why leaders act the way they do” (Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane, 2014) However, today abundant businesses engross importance on the improvement of leaders. Some of the ultimate leaders were formerly followers, such as in instructive businesses. One aspect as leaders many have to contemplate in striving

Growing up I was always told to be a leader and not a follower, and as a child I did not think much of that saying. However, in recent years I have begun to grasp what it truly means to

Being a leader is often seen as impressive and key in a resume, merely because it is glorified in today’s society. However, people often forget that if every person on this planet was a leader, there would be no followers, and therefore, no leaders. Becher and Sivers both argue that followers are significant in creating a leader, something I genuinely agree with. However, Sivers seems to point out that being the first follower is hard and can lead to ridicule; although I agree that it is hard to join a small group in action, I believe being the leader is harder and more dangerous regarding the possibility of ridicule.

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

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

To become an effective servant-leader, there are ten basic standards one should follow in order to be reputable. Principles include communication, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment and community building (Spears, L. C. 2010). When comparing the principles for effective servant-leader skills, one will see that many of the principles overlap, and work together for sufficient leadership. By performing skills of a servant one can become a proper leader, therefore servant skills do not withdraw but continue to feed the leadership role.

In my own opinion, a good leader does not simply get more followers, but creates more leaders. In the book “The One Minute Manager” by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, this idea is upheld. The book is simple, short, and extremely effective. Its goal is for people to “enjoy more success with less stress,” and that is exactly what it does. It is also been awarded “The All-Time #1 Best Seller on Managing Your Work and Life.”

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

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.

The majority of the time I think of myself as a leader, however there are several occasions I step into the follower role. My most obvious follower roles are at work and school. During these situations I believe I tend to be an exemplary follower. I think my personality as well as my actions would confirm this assumption. Exemplary followers are defined as self managed followers, challenges leader, and willing to be mentored.

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.