Capstone Assignment for Computer Programming Tech.

Comprehending Followership In Building Leadership

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Abstract

Followership is the will to be cooperative in working to accomplish set objectives while exemplifying exceptional interactional teamwork. Leadership, on the other hand, is a study discipline and practical expertise that encompasses the capability of a person to guide others towards the accomplishment of certain goals. Good followers actively participate in building the leadership process. While creation, development, and deployment of effective leadership gives a significant priority in companies and organizations, followership has been deemed as a negative aspect and, therefore, has not received much attention. From the numerous books that have been authored in respect to good leadership traits, qualities of an effective leader, leadership theories, responsibilities of leaders, and the remarkable training offered on leadership, it is evident that followership is overlooked and not well comprehended or analyzed.

Followers are as important as leaders and their contribution greatly impacts on the success of organizational goals. As such, they must be acknowledged for the responsibility they have in helping the leaders, who ought to have the know-how and expertise to, engage the followers in fulfilling the team goals. In this manner, there is a need for a good leader-follower relationship. Followership as an art incorporates qualities like allegiance, commitment, trust, discipline, valor, conformity with regulations and responsibility; attributes that are not innate but have to be learned and applied in day-to-day operations. Followership makes the leaders aware of the source of their authority. Having control over people emanates from the desire of those that leaders are in control of to follow.

Introduction

The contemporary leadership is characterized by a set of challenges. From the widespread use of social media, the dynamic transformation from baby boomers to millennialism, increased workforce diversification, and the availability of advanced technology, the issues surrounding leadership have continued to adjust with times. The main problems include: developing collaborated efforts, assessing the rate of investment in skill building, defining success, and ideology management. Alternative issues may include identifying leadership styles, having followers who have more know-how than leaders, and increased virtual teams. It is the duty of the leader to find out the best leadership style for every situation and follower. Leader-follower bond is important for the breakthrough of any business and is based on mutual respect and trust (Crippen, 2012). Globalization has adversely affected one-on-one interaction, and that affects trust. A good follower is basically a leader who is keen on learning and building a name and credence in work. Companies must endeavor to comprehend the effect of leader-follower relations and try to develop the traits in their workforce (Hurwitz & Hurwitz, 2015). Majority of studies have been directed towards the effect of leadership on business success while ignoring the role of followership. Followership is only discussed in the context of leadership, as opposed to being viewed as a distinct entity.

This paper will be valuable to the subject of leadership and followership, which is often ignored. The analysis will be based on Kelly’s followership model as well as the leadership theories that have been vastly published in related research (Kelly, 2008). The styles of leadership are classified into four categories, which will be evaluated in this paper. The essay will also look into the particular attributes needed in the different phases, as well as the leadership assessments and development plans.

The relationship between Followership and Leadership Styles and their Traits

Leadership is mainly successful when there is a mutual understanding amidst the leader and the follower. Organizational success must not be viewed as the efforts of the leaders alone, but a culmination of the efforts of the corresponding leaders and followers. The follower-based approach contends that the ideas, choices, or attitudes of followers define the leadership processes. Bearing this perception, then leadership can be effected through emphasizing on the significance of the follower-leadership building, and the value of followers to recognize their responsibility (Lussier & Achua, 2009). Followership training produces people who, upon arrival of time, effortlessly adjust to lead successfully while at the same time satisfying their follower duties

Aristotle states that the one who cannot be an effective follower will not be an effective leader. According to Kelly (2008), when there is an exemplary leader-follower relationship, the followers show traits such as good individual relations, confidence, trust, increased motivation, and interdependence. Leadership models suggest that specific characteristic variants are as a result of transformational and transactional leadership theories. Transformational leaders motivate and inspire others to achieve beyond their goals and, as such, arouse an emotional reaction in followers. In turn, the followers adjust their beliefs, capacities, and ideologies with the aim of raising performance past defined goals to the advantage of the organization. Transactional leadership defines the leader-follower relations as a trade process where the leaders offer rewards or penalties for the followers to comply and perform (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Effective leaders strengthen their relationship with followers by catering for the followers’ needs, while also being supportive.

Followership explained

While giving credit to followers, Kelly proposes that followership controls people’s lives, but not their reasoning — as their occupation, with leadership, does not allow them to consider the nature and validity of the follower. Also according to Kelly, followership is a vehement, perceptive, and self-supporting engagement in an attempt to achieve the organizational goals (Kelly, 2008). There are four main followership styles that Kelly defines:

Alienated followers

These are the cynical followers who will always condemn the leaders for any decisions made and pretend to be the biggest victims. They think they are visionaries who are able to oversee all activities better compared to the leadership. It is not easy to influence such followers towards realizing the key organizational goals. While their job capability is insufficient and questionable, their cognitive prowess is very high (Riggio, et al, 2008).

Conformist followers

They hardly challenge the decisions made by the leaders, are very obedient and keen to perform their duties as directed, and are commonly referred to as the “Yes” employees — as they always agree to whatever they are told. Their existence in the firm makes it leadership-centered, as only the leadership makes decisions.

The passive followers

They carefully consider the boundary of their role and that of the management, rely on the leaders for guidance on the goals that have to be accomplished, and hardly argue about the directives given. The leader in a passive team has to regularly worry about what has to be and the way in which it should be achieved.

Exemplary followers

They are the largest assets in any business as they have the organizational goals and its objectives in their hearts. They are actively involved in the organization and develop innovative plans that revolutionize specific functions of the firm, making it competitive (Carsten & Lapierre, 2014). The exemplary followers are constructive thinkers and, therefore, do not question the leadership out of malice. They, however, do not hesitate to raise issues when they have the feeling that some steps are extraordinarily not in line with the organization’s management. They are exceptional team-players and take a critical role in developing the joint leadership style of the company. Their job maturity is fine same as their intellectual awareness.

Diagram from (Bjugstad, Spotlight, Thompson, & Morris, 2006)

Leadership styles and traits

Leadership styles will always differ according to the leader’s area of operations. For instance, a leader in charge of a political party will have different traits and leadership styles compared to the same but for project management in a certain organization (Van Vugt, 2006). Likewise, a leader in a church will use different leadership styles compared to that of a leader in a school.

Authoritarian Leadership

Autocratic leaders give vivid directives on what needs to be accomplished, the time required, and how to do it. It is characterized by the absolute control of followers, and where the leader is the sole decision maker and does not give a chance for their decisions to be ever questioned, a factor that creates a gap between leaders and followers.

Participative Leadership

The leader offers guidance to the followers and gives them a chance to give their contributions in decision making. A participative leader who instills confidence in the follower team builds a good relationship. To an alienated follower, a participative leader will give the best inspiring methods as they can use the excess energy of the followers to convince them to raise any issues they have, and thereby making them feel involved in the decision making process.

Laissez-Faire Leadership

The leader trusts their followers enough to empower them to achieve their expectations without any intervention. The Laissez-Faire leader is reliant on the expertise of his followers and gives them a chance to decide their best way of accomplishing the task at hand. The leader gets recommendations from the followers and does not micromanage them, but has confidence in their dedication to achieving the tasks and their objectives.

Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational leaders motivate their followers through creating an environment of shared leadership where they recommend and strive to implement the goals through persuading the followers, and giving them a chance to voice their ideas and raise any issues they have. The transformational leaders, combined with exemplary and passive followers, will make a good team for accomplishing the organizational goals (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013).

The Transactional Leadership Style

This type of leadership perceives the leader-follower bond as a deal. By taking up a position as a follower in a team, the person has consented to be obedient to the leader. In many instances, it involves leader-follower association and the deal is focused on the follower accomplishing the needed tasks in order to get financial compensation (Bodenhausen & Curtis, 2016).

Situational Leadership Styles

Situational theories state that the environment influences the leadership, and no one style is effective. It argues that good leaders are the ones who adjust their style to the circumstances at hand, choosing their style depending on the followers. This is one of the main bases for leadership trust that goes a long way in strengthening the leader-follower relationship. Situational Leadership Theory explains the capability of the followers to comply, and their readiness to act as directed, which consequently impacts on the leadership of the leader. Kelly (2008) argues that followers, as per the situational leadership style, overcome their leadership desires. For the leader to attain their objectives, the follower should not be a leader. The followers may demonstrate exceptional leadership skills; in spite of the fact, they decide to forgo them for someone else to lead. In acting as such, the follower may be convinced that the team is in better care with the leader as opposed to the follower.

Followership and Leadership Expectations in Project Management

Project management is a well-organized, but versatile, procedure for delivering a project. Its effectiveness is reliant on applying a two-step series, which is planning then producing (Taylor et al, 2007). Those leading the project management efforts create the project and must include followers to complete it together. As such, project leaders must know their followers well. For the group to be a Self Directed Work Team (SDWT), both the followers and leaders must demonstrate proactive interaction throughout the entire process (Du Plessis & Boshoff, 2018).

The main work of the leader is to ‘tell and sell’ the project activities, and assisted by the followers responsible for ‘launching, storming, standardizing and executing’. The leadership style applied by the leader is supportive, which is contrary to how a directive leadership style ought to be that is, congruent to the ‘followership’ expectations in all the stages (Cattani, 2011). As the project starts, the followers may seem to be quiet with limited communication. However, it is the responsibility of the leader to encourage the followers by familiarizing them with the project goals. At the storming phase, the followers may have disagreements regarding control and, as such, others may give up (Riggio, et al, 2008). However, at this point, the leader may employ his selling expertise to inspire the followers and make them strive to realize his directing schemes. At the norming stage, the leaders must empower the followers to be efficient and effective in implementing the project through balancing between directing them and supporting them. During the last phase, or performing, the team has already built trust, pliability, and teamwork spirit, which promotes self-direction. The leader is very supportive in this phase and gives far-lesser directions.

In the modern workplace, people including leaders and followers work not only for financial gains but also to realize self-fulfillment, and career dreams. A leader will convince the followers to have faith in them, believe in the shared vision and go the extra mile to accomplish those goals that are in-line with those of the organization. In project management, the ‘followership’ development procedure is very essential. Leadership can be cultured through leading and controlling followers in carrying out a project (Bjugstad et al. 2006). The leader must be informed on how to get a good balance of implementing progression, inspiration, management and incitement during the project, as the followers experience a dynamic growth of identifying, trusting, and voluntarily backing their leaders to make a project successful while achieving their professional goals.

Followership and Leadership Assessment

From the definitions and assessment of followership, I am confident that I fit in the category of an Exemplary Follower (Frew, 1977). Throughout my career, I have been an independent thinker and actively engaged in my work, as well as any team that I am set to work in. My logical reasoning has enabled me to question my leaders only where necessary, without raising unwarranted criticism. I have learned to take responsibility for my personal actions, and I am always careful of how my actions will affect the organization. I do not find it a challenge to draw the attention of the leaders in areas where I feel that their decisions are not in-line with the organizational goals. I offer unwavering support to the leaders at all times, with the main goal of surpassing my personal ambitions and the goals of the company

My role in the company has enabled me to play a strategic role in my team, a factor that makes my work more exciting and fulfilling. From the assessment, my most valuable asset is thinking about the ultimate company goals and calculated prospects of the tasks being performed which inspires me to be careful about the process designing and the measures used to prevent errors. The main reason behind my followership effectiveness is the leaders, who have guided me, advised me, convinced me, encouraged me, and believed in my ability to deliver. The freedom has enabled me to own the projects and ensure that the goals are realized, and at times surpassed. When I ventured into project management, I considered myself as naïve, lacking in knowledge, and was a passive follower who took directives as they are, and implemented them without questioning anything or even knowing the project goals. However, over the years, I have become familiar with my work and have shifted from being operational-orientated to being strategic. Regardless, when doing the assessment, I could not identify exactly what made me an alienated follower (Uzi, 2014). I was often in deep thought about the effects of the management’s operations and tried to find fault even where it did not exist, instead of focusing on achieving team goals. This is an area that I am determined to work on, keeping in mind that project managers need good planning in the brainstorming stage which will significantly improve my followership.

In my own capacity, I see myself as a leader as I am always keen on the tasks of others that are connected to the projects given to me. The capability to work together with teammates, encourage them, and support their projects positions me in the category of a participative leader (Du Plessis & Boshoff, 2018). I strive to create a conducive environment for my colleagues and motivate them while building strong relationships and trust. In this, I embrace the transformational leadership style where I believe in empowering others to attain their personal growth, while at the same time fulfilling the company’s goals.

Followership and Leadership Development Plan

Since followership is significantly ignored in business to the disadvantage of its performance, less attention is given to developing effective followers. Organizational trends like empowerment, strengthening the structure of a company, and self-controlled groups call for the necessity of exemplary followers. To catch up with current demands, the conventional way of leadership has to be re-evaluated (Veldsman, et al. 2016). A lot of efforts need to be diverted towards training strong followers. For each training plan for followers, there are numerous such schemes for leaders. This difference is apparent in spite of the fact that more followers exist when compared to leaders (Cummings, et al 2010). Through expressing the needed features for effective followership: by pedagogy; tutoring and counseling for thriving followership; and through gratifying effective followership, businesses will record more success. Followership training leads the discussion to the subject of social interaction by focusing on the relations amidst leaders and followers.

A leadership development plan refers to an explicit plan that assists one to set their career in the direction of strengthened leadership roles and big administration ranks. A plan is a vital tool for tactically guiding one through their professional growth (Crippen, 2012). The leadership development plan will enable one to attain:

· Increased career fulfillment

· Fascinating chances and challenges

· Life-changing career goals

A leadership development plan incorporates:

· Creation of a distinct vision

· Making leadership development objectives that have a set timeframe

· The inclusion of particular action steps which are measurable

· Periodic assessment of the plan

Through the incorporation of leadership and followership training in the plan, one will be able to deliver the best and gain confidence in facing any challenges. It will also help the leaders, as well as the followers, to be motivated towards achieving set business goals (Veldsman, et al. 2016).

Conclusion

This paper highlights the importance of effective leader-follower relationships that are critical to the success of organizational goals. Leaders work well with followers they understand well, and likewise the followers trust and depict good performance when they have a cordial relationship with the leaders. Transformational and participative leadership styles have proven to be the best leadership styles for developing exemplary followers. The leader has the ultimate responsibility of employing a leadership style that fosters a good working environment where the followers feel free to consult and seek advice where necessary. The leaders that want to experience exemplary followership ought to familiarize themselves with their followers through communication and effective listening. Developing positive bond, calls for being sensible on the needs, inspirations, personal goals, and strengths of all. It is the only way that both leaders and followers will accomplish shared goals and organizational success.

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