Follwership

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Followership

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

(1901-1978)

Social Activist

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Overview

Followership Description
Followership Defined
Role-Based and Relational-Based Perspectives
Typologies of Followership
Theoretical Approaches
Followership and Destructive Leaders
How Does Followership Work?

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Followership Description

Followers play a central role in the leadership process.
Historically, leaders have captured most of our attention.
Leaders have been viewed as the causal agents for organizational change.
Today, researchers view leadership as a shared process. Leaders and followers are interdependent.
The world needs more followers, and less glorified leaders.

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Followership Defined

Followership--is a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal.
Followership has an ethical dimension; it is not morally neutral.
There are ethical consequences to followership; the character and behavior of followers have an impact on organizational outcomes.

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Followership (Kelly,1992)

Most recognized followership typology
Followers are enormously valuable to organizations

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Exemplary followers are active and independent, critical thinkers

Kelly Typology (cont.)

Passive followers: Look to leader for direction and motivation
Conformist followers: On the leader’s side but still look for direction and guidance
Alienated followers: Think for themselves and exhibit negative energy
Exemplary followers: Active, positive, and offer independent constructive criticism

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Chaleff Typology (1995, 2003, 2008)

Followers serve a common purpose along with leaders.
Followers need to take a more proactive role.
Followers need to take more responsibility, feel more agency, and confidence in ability to influence others.
Followers need to be courageous.

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Two axes of courageous followership:

- support and challenge

Four styles of followership

- Resource (low support, low challenge)

- Individualist (low support, high challenge)

- Implementer (high support, low challenge)

- Partner (high support, high challenge)

Kellerman Typology (2008)

Leaders’ importance overestimated because they have more power, authority and influence; importance of followers is underestimated.
Followers are “unleaders” with less rank and who defer to leaders.
Followers differentiated on one attribute: Level of engagement (low–high)

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Kellerman’s Typology (cont.)

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Five levels of followers:

Isolates are completely unengaged.
Bystanders are observers who do not participate.
Participants are partially engaged and willing to take a stand on issues.
Activists feel strongly about the leader and the leader’s policies and act on their own beliefs.
Diehards are totally dedicated to their cause; deeply committed to supporting the leader or opposing the leader.

We just covered three follower typologies (Kelley, Chaleff, & Kellerman). They describe follower roles, or types of followers.

They provide a beginning place for building a theory, or theories, about followership (covered next).

Theoretical Approaches to Followership

Uhl-Bien (2014)--Followership is comprised of “characteristics, behaviors and processes of individuals acting in relation to leaders.”
Followership is a relationally-based process that includes how followers and leaders interact to construct leadership and its outcomes.

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Uhl-Bien et al (2014)

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

Theoretical Frameworks

Reversing the Lens

Focus on how followers affect leaders and organizational outcomes
Followers can be change agents

The Leadership Co-Created Process

One person’s leadership behaviors interact with another person’s followership behaviors to create leadership and its outcomes.
Leader behaviors are influence attempts.
Follower behaviors grant power to another, comply, or challenge.

THIS IS A DIFFERENT WAY TO THINK ABOUT THE LEADER/FOLLOWER RELATIOHSHIP, RIGHT?

New Perspectives on Followership

Followers get the job done and are ethical

Followers work in the best interest of the organization’s mission and believe they offer as much value as leaders do

Followers challenge leaders

Followers support the leader and ask questions

Followers learn from leaders

Followers think for themselves

Followers carry out their responsibilities with energy and assertiveness

Followers are risk-takers, self-starters, independent problem solvers, committed, responsible

Followership and Destructive Leaders
Lipman-Blumen: The Allure of Toxic Leaders (2005)

Strengths

Recognizes followership as an integral part of the leadership equation
Forces a whole new way for people to think about leadership, and to focus on followers
Views leadership as co-constructed
Provides a set of basic prescriptions for what a follower should or shouldn’t’ do to be effective

Criticisms

Little methodical research ahs been done so far
Current followership literature primarily based on observation and anecdote
Leader-centric view of leadership may be too ingrained for followership to gain importance

Application

Followership is as important as leadership.
Learning about followership can be useful for organizational training and development.
Leaders can learn how to understand followers and how to most effectively work with them.