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Followership
What is followership?
“Followership is a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a goal…. What distinguishes an effective from an ineffective follower is enthusiastic, intelligent, and self-reliant participation—without star billing—in the pursuit of an organizational goal.” — Robert Kelley (1988)
Read More: In Praise of Followers
“[Followers] support and aid the leader when he or she is doing the right thing and stand up to the leader, having the courage to let the leader know when he or she is doing something wrong or headed in the wrong direction.” — Ronald E. Riggio (2015).
Why is followership important?
Without followers, there would be no leaders and very little would be accomplished. Research on organizational accomplishments estimated that 80 percent of organizational success can be attributed to the contributions of followers (Kelley, 1992). Followers are essential to turning a vision into reality. They can also provide new leaders with feedback and guidance to help them stay on track, avoid mistakes, and learn and grow. When followers are disengaged and or not contributing, they can derail organizational efforts and lower morale, which may be costly in terms of lost time, energy, and talent.
Being an effective follower is good training for future leaders. Agho (2009) collected the perceptions of more than 300 senior-level executives on the distinguishing characteristics of effective leaders and followers. Although respondents perceived differences in the characteristics that make good leaders and good followers, Agho found “a significant number of the respondents agreed that followership skills should be viewed as prerequisites for effective leadership” (p. 7).
Read More: Perspectives of Senior Level Executives on Effective Followership and Leadership
Finally, it is also important for leaders to have a good understanding of who their followers are and what their followers need in order to be effective in their roles.
Followership Toolkit
Other Resources
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The art of following | Dr Jane Bentley | TEDxGlasgow
As a musician, Jane discovered that the art of following is an essential practice if you’re going to be anything other than a solo performer. Even more so if you then take music to people and places that normally don’t get the opportunity, such as hospitals and prisons.
This is a call to reclaim the idea of followership from the stereotype of being seen as a passive and sheep-like activity, and to re-engage with it as a skill that can be an engine of learning, collaboration, connection, and reaching for possibilities beyond our personal boundaries. We may even make some music together.
Jane is a drummer, facilitator, consultant and trainer; specialising in music in communication, health and wellbeing settings.
She believes that everyone can make music – piloting musical social innovation projects as diverse as a drumming group for people experiencing mental health difficulties; exploring musical communication skills with corporate trainers through the medium of paper; making music with prisoners and their children to encourage family bonding; sharing the delights of improvisation with orchestral musicians who want to play in hospitals; creating a spontaneous bicycle orchestra for the 2014 Commonwealth Games; investigating the potential for rhythm in aiding language learning, and articulating the potential of music in the lives of people with dementia.
In 2011, she was awarded her PhD based on musical interaction, highlighting the effects and mechanisms of group music making in human wellbeing. She has since trained musicians, music therapists, educators, trainers, arts practitioners, occupational therapists, and nursing staff from Bathgate to Bangalore.
In 2015, she was awarded a Winston Churchill travelling Fellowship, researching the role of music in the wellbeing of older adults in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, and in 2016, was named a BBC music ‘Unsung Hero’ for her community work.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx -
Simon Sinek: "The best leaders are the best followers"
Great leaders see themselves as followers and are always loaded with courage -
Follow the leader | Suli Breaks | TEDxHousesofParliament
Suli Breaks is one the UK's leading spoken word poets who captivates audiences and peers alike with his phenomenal wordplay. This piece was especially created for TEDxHousesofParliament 2014 to close the show.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations) -
Followership is Underated & Misunderstood
Doug Williamson - President & C.E.O. of The Beacon Group speaks to business students about Leadership and Management at Wilfred Laurier University School of Business & Economics. -
Leadership and Followership: What Tango Teaches Us About These Roles in Life
http://www.courageousfollower.net. Author Ira Chaleff has produced a gorgeous video on Leading and Following in Tango. Utilizing the wisdom and grace of one of the best Tango instructors in the United States, we get new insights into how the partner in the follower role can bring out the creativity of the partner in the leader role. We also witness how poor following in its various forms can undermine the leader and undo the partnership. Chaleff, who has been recognized in the Harvard Business Review as one of the three pioneers in the emerging field of followership, has teamed with Sharna Fabiano, founder of Tangomercurio and the Tango Mercurio Community Orchestra in Washington, DC http://www.tangomercurio.org to produce a unique and aesthetically charming video. In between each dance sequence Sharna and her partner Isaac Oboka dialogue about what Isaac as the leader experienced when Sharna demonstrates a variety of poor following. Their unrehearsed banter is delightful and instructive. In the final sequence, Sharna demonstrates how a strong follower can steady a leader who has lost balance -- something leaders in every sphere of life need at one time or another. Kevin Good http://www.crisislab.com as director, videographer and editor, has created a visually stunning experience that will surprise and delight YouTube viewers. -
What is Followership?
Leadership requires followership, and without understanding what the act of following entails, it is difficult to fully understand leaders and leadership. In recent years, followership has received increased attention as a legitimate and significant area of leadership study. Followership is defined as a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal. It involves a power differential between the follower and the leader.
Early research on followership resulted in a series of typologies that differentiate the roles followers can play. The primary types of follower roles identified are active–engaged, independent–assertive, submissive–compliant, and supportive–conformer. Followers get the job done, work in the best interest of the organization’s mission, challenge leaders, support the leader, and learn from leaders.
In addition to having a positive impact, there is another, darker side to followership. Followers can play ineffective, and even harmful, roles. These factors include people’s need for reassuring authority figures; need for security and certainty; need to feel chosen or special; need for membership in the human community; fear of ostracism, isolation, and social death; and fear of powerlessness to challenge a bad leader. The emergence of these factors occurs as a result of people’s needs to find safety to feel unique and to be included in community.
In summary, the demand in society for effective, principled followers is growing and along with it a strong need for research-based theories of the process of followership. Until more research is done on the intricacies of followership, our understanding of leadership will be incomplete.
Followership Articles
“A Review of the Literature on Followership Since 2008: The Importance of Relationships and Emotional Intelligence” by Richard Martin (2015) "Followership continues to be a field of study in the larger field of leadership. [...]
Followership Attributes and Skills
According to Robert Kelley, effective followers possess essential qualities: "They manage themselves well." "They are committed to the organization and to a purpose, principle, or person outside themselves." "They build their competence and focus [...]
Upward Influencing or “Managing Up”
"If a follower forms a positive relationship with their leader, they can potentially influence situations where they perceive the leader to be making a mistake or offer additional support if needed. They may also [...]
Kelley’s Five Followership Styles
Robert Kelley (1992) posited that there are five followership styles. These include "exemplary," "conformist," "passive," "alienated," and "pragmatist" styles (Kelley, 1992). These followership styles are based on a combination of two different followership dimensions: [...]
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