Week 2 - Discussion

Week 2 Discussion: Leaders and Followers

An effective platoon leader in the military may have years of training and experience, but if her soldiers do not trust her or follow her commands effectively, a critical mission can be easily compromised. A successful coach of a sports team may improve the overall performance of his team, but without talented and committed players, championships can be hard to come by. In business, the leader often receives praise for success, even though the other members of a group or organization—the followers—are likely more important to achieving that success. What are the qualities of those followers who contribute to the success of an organization?

This week you are also reading in  Passion & Purpose: Stories From the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders   SEE ATTACHMENT about the complexities and speed of change and how Leaders must rely on not only their teams, but an even wide circle. 

A lot of leadership studies talk about leadership as a matter of concentric circles. The inner circle is the individual; the first circle out is the people in that leader’s organization or the team. Most of our earlier studies focused on those two circles. Now we concentrate on a third circle as well, and that is working outside your team, with leaders of other teams, and with other organizations. You increasingly have to learn how to align yourself with others in order to tackle the major problems (Coleman, Gulati, & Segovia, 2012, p. 49).

Think about what this means when it comes to the value leaders can draw from followers. What are the implications to the leader? What are the responsibilities of the follower in this age where the complexities of leadership and pace of change are ever increasing?

To prepare for the discussion this week, first read the articles on FOLLOWSHIP by Cox, Plagens, and Sylla (2010), Johnson (2011), and Kelley (1988) in Learning Resources SEE ATTACHMENT . Then, read Lipman-Blumen’s (2005) article on TOXIC LEADERSHIP SEE ATTACHMENT . As you read these resources, reflect on leaders you have observed, both those that you admire and those that you do not admire.

Consider how the followers these leaders can empower and influence leadership in their organization.

Utilize, Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, to ensure that you are following APA for the proper format and use of citations and references.