Psychology of Leadership

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5.3 Assignment Leader2Leader Dialogue Report

Delsa Christian

Followership LDR-320-01A

Indiana Wesleyan University

February 28, 2022

I had the chance to engage John Smith about leadership during my Leader2Leader interview. My conversation with John Smith was condensed into the week's content on leadership and followership. John Smith is a local restaurateur who owns a series of eateries. John Smith is also a well-known company entrepreneur who owns and operates other firms in the region, qualifying him for the position since he has managed and led hundreds of people. At roughly 4 p.m., the meeting was held through Zoom. I asked John Smith the following questions during the interview:

i. What is ultimate followership?

Ultimate followership, in my opinion, is the readiness to collaborate in achieving set objectives while exhibiting a high level of interactive cooperation. Leaders can use followers to create and maintain productive, efficient, and people-centered organizations (Barry et al., 2021). Even in the absence of their leaders, followers are obligated to assist the leaders in being successful while maintaining loyalty to their vital requirements, beliefs, exhibiting self-management abilities, and being good individual contributors.

ii. What is the role of a follower in ensuring organizational success?

For any organization to prosper, followers must be committed and effective in their roles as implementers. Followers who are committed don't simply get things done; they make them happen. They keep leaders on their toes and get the most out of them (Da'as & Zibenberg, 2021). They also hold their leaders responsible for creating a clear vision and establishing attainable objectives, later reflected in the organization's performance.

iii. As a leader, do you consider followership an important part of your leadership?

Followership is a vital component of my leadership since it helps me reach my objectives. Everyone, even leaders, is a follower at some point or another. Even people in positions of power have bosses or supervisors. Leadership, in my opinion, is essentially a function of influence. This indicates that when someone is in a position of power, they can influence others while also being impacted by their followers' actions and attitudes. Furthermore, some leadership theories are founded on how followers aid managers to adapt to conditions (Uhl-Bien, 2021). As a result, a leader's followers may either enhance or exacerbate a leader's flaws. Many of the skills required of good followers are also required of leaders. A follower may give passionate support to a leader, which can play a critical role in their success.

iv. Which followership style do you consider important to you as a leader?

I like being challenged in all aspects of my life, not just at work. As a result, I believe the finest followership style is that of a partner. A helpful and challenging follower is said to be a partner follower. This sort of follower feels he or she has a stake in the choices made by the leader; thus, they will behave accordingly. If a partner believes a leader's judgment is poor, they will not hesitate to express their displeasure in the workplace. Simultaneously, these followers will offer as much support to their leader as possible.

v. Have you ever had a follower who practiced a followership style you did not like? What did you do about it?

Yes, I had a follower who practiced the individualist followership style at one point. This follower provided my leadership with little to no support and had no qualms about criticizing my actions and policies, even when he could see me making significant errors. He was also typically abrasive and combative in his behavior. After two months of putting up with his conduct, I had to discharge him from his responsibilities, hoping that he would improve. We could hardly agree on anything.

vi. How does the leader-follower relationship influence the success of an organization?

When management is brought up, the idea of a leader and what makes a good leader comes to mind. Many people's initial thoughts may be that powerful, knowledgeable, influential, and motivational leaders who can inspire them to go above and beyond to achieve success. The connection between the leader and the follower, on the other hand, is the actual key to organizational success (Hurwitz & Hurwitz, 2020). Success is more likely to occur when the two have a tight connection. The follower feels satisfied, corporate turnover is minimal, productivity is high, attitudes are good, and followers are more inclined to work harder, resulting in higher levels of promotion.

vii. Explain why followers may, at times, need courage to fully meet their roles' responsibilities.

Followers, in my opinion, must be fearless to make significant and onerous judgments concerning the organization. Within their organization, courageous followers empower themselves. This empowers them to serve the company and the leader while hyper-aware of their performance. Brave followers must be willing to confront their leaders when they believe necessary. In addition, bold followers highlight the need for change and serve as role models for the required transformation.

References

Barry, E. S., Bader-Larsen, K. S., Meyer, H. S., Durning, S. J., & Varpio, L. (2021). Leadership and Followership in Military Interprofessional Health Care Teams. Military medicine, 186(Supplement_3), 7-15.

Da’as, R. A., & Zibenberg, A. (2021). Conflict, control and culture: Implications for implicit followership and leadership theories. Educational Review, 73(2), 194-208.

Hurwitz, M., & Hurwitz, S. (2020). Integrating followership into leadership programs. New directions for student leadership, 2020(167), 23-35.

Uhl-Bien, M. (2021). Complexity leadership and followership: Changed leadership in a changed world. Journal of Change Management, 21(2), 144-162.