Who Is The Follower Role?

I was sixteen when I started my first job. I did not know what to expect, and I only knew one type of group of people; my classmates and friends. I was young and was still trying to discover myself. My boss is this guy who uses catchphrases like the ones you hear when you pull the string of an action figure. Some of the things he says are phrases like “trust no one” or “do not marry young.” I consider him like a second father figure

I have always strove to be the person that others looked up to. I never knew how to do that though. Until one day, one of my friends, a person I idolized, became an American Quarter Horse Youth Association Director. Ever since that moment I knew how I was going to leave my mark, and expand as a leader. Becoming someone fit enough for this leadership role was not an easy task.

First and foremost, I am extremely passionate about the work I do - whether it be through community service, cheerleading, or another activity. Whenever I engage in an activity I always give it one hundred and ten percent, going above and beyond the expectations. In 2011, Maya Angelou, a leader that I highly respect, stated that her mission in life “is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” I truly value these words and the truth they portray. In leadership, I work my hardest to live by these principles because of my genuine care for others and the activities in which I participate. Others should be led to follow my lead because of my passion.

In addition to completing the Strengths Based Leadership assessment, I completed Robert Kelley’s Followership Survey. According to the survey, I am an exemplary follower (Kelley, 1992). According to Kelley (1988), exemplary followers, or effective followers, mange themselves well and are courageous, honest, and credible (p. 144). These types of followers are additionally committed to the organization and to a purpose, principle or person outside themselves (Kelley, 1988, p. 144). Lastly, exemplary followers are independent thinkers who act on their own initiative, engage actively when working in a group and provide constructive input (Kelley, 1988, p. 144). Another assessment that I completed was the Authentic Leadership

A person who is a servant leader is someone who is committed to the people. I would consider myself a servant leader due to my strong commitment to people, whether it is to coworkers, customers, management, and even people outside of the work place. This can be shown through access, communication, and support.

When I think of a leader I look back on how many people in my life that have helped me to get where I am today. My parents are authority figures in the sense that they are the ones that showed me right from wrong. There are the administrators that helped me along my way with school and completing all of the work that I needed to in order to make my way in this long road called life. Finally there are the instructors that have shown me the ways on how to become a leader myself. When I think of the word leader I do not think of myself right away, but now that I have taken on different roles in my life I have realized that maybe just maybe that I could become my own leader.

Throughout my life, I have never really been a follower in the typical sense. While I have looked to people older than me for help and advice. In addition, I never really saw myself as a typical leader. What I mean by that is I felt that I was a leader by doing my own thing and not worrying about everyone else or being a part of a particular clique. What I realized by just going about my business is that my attitude attracted others in the sense that they knew I was about work and wanted to emulate my demeanor in order for to be successful in school. One time that I recall in which I had to lead a team of my peers was this past summer. I enrolled in a few summer classes in order to better prepare me for college. For one of my classes

I believe growing up and the oldest of four, always had me positioned to be a leader and a role model. As a person I have always been deeply committed to helping others especially

As there will be one time or another in our life when we will not be in a position of power. I think that we should be able to be given tasks and be entrusted to achieve them. There is no way that you can learn that unless you are put in position to learn about yourself. I believe a follower is in a great position for that. It also allows us to see traits in others that we would incorporate into our leadership style Also, as a follower you are able to ask questions that leader might gloss over. Sometimes being a strong team member can be the difference between a team excelling or never reaching any of its objectives. Finally, followership allows us the ability to hold different roles in a team. This thereby allows us to find both our strengths and weaknesses which can be crucial in business. I mean collaboration is to key to most employers. As we often have to understand the role that we play within a business no matter what job the individual

I am always exercising Leadership in and outside of school. I have always led or motivated others. For example, I am the Alto Section Leader in Chorus here at school. Every time I am with the Chorus, I am doing my best to help my section improve. I always try to find solutions to the problems we face. Another example is at my church. My Father and I teach a class at my church. We teach 4th and 5th graders who haven't made all of their sacraments at the right age.

First question, what type of leader am I? I see myself as a transformational leader. I always enjoy seeing others improve. Whenever I get a chance to share my job knowledge with a new airman I take it. For instance, as a Fuels Lab Technician I am in need of a second man for sample testing. This gives me the opportunity to show new airmen that there is more to Fuels than just driving a truck. With me sharing my knowledge with others, this helps them learn more and me to be a better trainer and leader.

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

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.

In class, so far, we have discussed many different topics about leadership. One being different leadership theories. The one that I feel most represents the leader I want to be in the future is servant leadership. When we discussed servant leadership it was defined as this leadership model is based on the leader and the followers wanting to serve others. Basically, this means the servant leader you put your focus on the needs of others before your own. The followers goal is to serve clients and the leader’s goal is to serve the employee and implement the organization mission statement. The leader supports other employees by noticing their goals and provide the proper support to help them reach those goals. This