Followership Theory
What does it mean to be a good follower? Well, as I mentioned in Chapter 1, being a good follower does not mean to follow other lemmings as they run headlong toward the cliff and jump off. The following definition draws on the thoughts of Kelley, a major contributor to the literature on the role of the follower:
A follower is one who pursues a course of action in common with a leader to achieve an organizational goal. Effective followers make an active decision to contribute towards the achievement of the goal and demonstrate enthusiasm, intelligence, self-reliance and the ability to work with others in pursuit of the goal. Effective followers recognize the authority of the leader and limitations this imposes on their own actions, consider all issues on their merits, make their own decisions, hold their own values, speak their minds and hold themselves accountable for the consequences for their actions.1
In other words, active followers, given the necessary information and room to move, can be trusted to take independent action to achieve a particular objective. This action is subject to receiving ongoing assistance and support to resolve issues beyond their spheres of competence and influence, and to receiving recognition for the work they are doing. It is important to note that while the behavior of effective followers may be seen to be simply doing as they are told, their actions are the result of independent thought and decision making and would have been the same in the absence of direction from the leader.
There are a number of activities within various institutions that provide a clear example of how exemplary followers can make a significant difference in the outcome of organized efforts.2 The traditional fields of religion, military, politics, and team sports are organizations that have followership as the cornerstone of their foundation.3 Within these organizations, successful followership is built upon the following:
• Belief in the organization’s mission, vision, or purpose
• Willingness to subjugate personal interest for the greater good
• Loyalty
• Unity of focus
Efforts to help integrate these concepts into your efforts on behalf of your organization will further enhance your contribution to the success of the organization, and in turn improve your capabilities.
But the preoccupation with the importance of leadership and the leader to that organization has dominated the research and writings on the subject, and hampered research on followership theory. Four interrelated factors have contributed to this lack of research.4 First, the term followership is nearly always associated with a negative point of view. Followership almost always is presented as a character trait to avoid if one aspires to lead. Second, the traditional hierarchical relationship between leaders and their followers has distorted the effectiveness of the leader and follower exchange. Third, when have you heard of any leadership development program that devotes time to developing an active follower culture and the followership skills that go along with it? Finally, academic business programs have been slow in documenting how characteristics and traits of effective followers parallel the characteristics and traits of effective leaders.
However, followership theory has two main sources: Kelley5 has provided categories of followers based on traits and attributes and Chaleff 6 describes followers in terms of different behaviors.7 Arguably, Robert E. Kelley helped to begin the shift in thinking about leadership research and training with his 1988 Harvard Business Review article, “In Praise of Followers.”8 Kelley’s early research about followership determined there are two basic dimensions that define the way people follow.9 These dimensions are
1. Do they think for themselves? Are they independent critical thinkers? Or do they look to the leader to do the thinking for them.
2. Are they actively engaged in creating positive energy for the organization? Or is there negative or passive involvement?
From these two dimensions, Kelley derived the five basic styles of followership:10
The sheep. Sheep are passive and want a leader to do all the thinking for them, and they also want a leader to motivate them. If you are the boss and you are thinking about what you are going to get your workers to do and how you are going to do that, then you are dealing with sheep.
The yes-people. The yes-people are just that; they are always on the leader’s side, but they still want the leader to do the thinking and provide them the vision. If the boss asks yes-people to do something, yes-people will go forward and get it done. When they finish the task, they ask, “What do you want me to do next?” Yes-people will put a positive spin on their actions by saying, “I am a doer; that is my job. The boss gets paid to think, and I am a guy who gets the work done.” But you know there is more to it than simply doing the job.
The alienated. Alienated followers can think for themselves but are negative in nature. If the leaders try to move forward they are the ones that have many reasons why it will not work. They do not try to come up with a solution, but they are cynical about the current plan of action. The alienated see themselves as mavericks, the only ones who have the guts to make a stand.
The pragmatics. Pragmatics sit on the fence and see which way the wind is blowing. Once they know the wind direction they get on board, but they will not let the leader pull out of the station without them. They perceive themselves as the status quo. They do what they must to survive, but wait it out until the storms of change blow over.
The star followers. Star followers think for themselves and have very positive energy. They give the leader’s decisions an independent evaluation, and if they agree, they give full support. If they disagree, they offer constructive alternatives that will help the leader, the organization, or both. Many view these star followers as “leaders in disguise.”11 Star followers are also often referred to as the right-hand person or the go-to person, and this is where you come into the picture. You should be striving to be that person who gets the job done without involving the boss; you should be making their job easy.
Ira Chaleef 12 developed four dimensions of followership to apply within an organization or group and the fifth dimension for outside the organization or group. Chaleef considered these five behaviors—responsibility, service, challenge, transformation, and leaving—as the five dimensions of courageous followership:13
The courage to assume responsibility. These followers do not hesitate to assume responsibility for themselves and the organization. They do not maintain the paternalistic view of the leader. These followers work toward creating opportunities that will allow them to fulfill their potential and maximize their value to the organization.
The courage to serve. Followers should not be afraid of the hard work required to serve the leader. Followers who display this dimension readily assume new or additional responsibilities to lighten the load of the leader and help the organization.
The courage to challenge. Followers who display this dimension of followership do not hesitate to speak up when the behaviors or policies of the leader conflict with their sense of right and wrong. These individuals are willing to stand out and risk rejection in order to bring issues to light. These followers value organizational harmony and their relationship with the leader but not at the expense of their integrity.
The courage to participate in the transformation. The followers who apply this dimension champion the need for change and are willing to stay the course while struggling with the difficulty of real change.
The courage to take moral action. Now comes the tough part of Chaleff ’s14 proposition. The followers know when it is time to take a stand that differs from the leaders. This stand may be refusing a direct order, appealing to a higher authority, or even resigning. These moral actions require a great deal of courage and involve personal risk.
We have looked briefly at theories that seek to explain the relationship between leaders and followers and the characteristics and attributes associated with good followership. There are plausible follower competencies and components and they are as follows:15
• Displays loyalty by showing a deep commitment to the organization, adheres to the vision and priorities of the organization, aligns personal and organizational goals, and disagrees agreeably.
• Functions well in change-oriented environments by serving as a change agent while moving fluidly between the roles of follower and leader.
• Functions well on teams by collaborating, sharing credit, and acting responsibly toward others.
• Demonstrates the ability to think independently and critically by dissenting courageously, takes the initiative, and practices self-management.
• Considers integrity of paramount importance by remaining trustworthy, tells the truth, admits mistakes, and maintains the highest performance standards.
Blackshear pointed out that there should be a new way of looking at followership.16 Her followership continuum is a development model that focuses on productivity in the workplace as it provides a gauge for measuring and developing employee performance output. The followership continuum is based on the concept that your performance is not constant. For example, your performance may be excellent for one particular supervisor and less than sterling for another. The followership continuum is represented by five stages of dynamic followership performance, presented in the following table:17
Followership continuum
Stage 1 employee is the stage of followership within the workplace that begins by becoming an employee. A stage 2 committed follower on the continuum is characterized by the employee becoming bound to the mission, idea, or organization. A stage 3 engaged follower is an active supporter willing to go above and beyond the routine. A stage 4 effective follower is considered capable and dependable along with all of the previous characteristics. The stage 5 exemplary follower could easily be the leader. The exemplary follower, however, sets ego aside and works to support the leader by leading themselves. Where do you fit along the followership continuum?
As you have read the theories and concepts presented in the chapter, it is important to determine what to do with this knowledge. In other words, how does one become a good follower? Followership is an important portion of leadership, perhaps more important than leadership styles, skills, and theories. For we all know, without any followers there are no leaders. Colonel Phillip S. Mellinger states that “If we can master this task [being a good follower], and master it well, then we will, in turn, be better leaders when the challenge confronts us. We must learn to follow before we can learn to lead.”18 Mellinger has some very good tips and rules for followers in order to become that exemplary follower:19
1. Don’t blame your boss for an unpopular decision or policy; it is your job to support, not undermine.
2. Disagree with your boss if necessary, but do it in private, avoid embarrassing situations, and never reveal to others what was discussed.
3. Make a decision, and then run it past the boss; use your initiative.
4. Accept responsibility whenever it is offered.
5. Tell the truth and do not quibble; your boss will be giving advice based upon what you said.
6. Do your homework; give your boss all the information necessary to make a decision.
7. When making a recommendation, keep in mind you are most likely the person who will have to implement the recommendation. This means you must know your own limitations and weaknesses, as well as your strengths.
8. Keep your boss informed of what’s going on in the organization; people will be reluctant to tell him or her of their problems and successes. You should do that for them, and assume someone else will tell the boss about yours.
9. If you find a problem, fix it. Don’t worry about who will get the blame or who now gets the praise.
10. Put in more than an honest day’s work, but don’t ever forget the needs of your family. If they are unhappy, you will be too, and your job performance will suffer accordingly.
This all sounds pretty good. But what does it mean to you in your particular situation? What does your boss expect of you in order for you to become a good follower? According to the former CEO of Honeywell, there are seven responsibilities you need to cover.20 First, you need to get involved, make sure you are involved in the day to day functions of your particular situation. Second, generate ideas; this is one way to get involved. If you are innovative and creative and willing to share those ideas, it will demonstrate a commitment to the organization. Third, you should collaborate with your peers and others and not resist the sharing of credit. There is an old saying that goes something like this, “It is amazing how much work can get done if it does not matter who gets the credit.” Next is, confront reality. It is necessary to face up to the realities of the organization and decide if any adjustments need to be made. You should be willing to change your position in the face of new facts. Fifth, you must be willing to risk failure. You will need to look at problem solving and try to come up with a new solution. In other words, from the preceding list involve number two. If the solution works, great, but if it fails, then learn from it and continue to move forward. But you must be willing to risk that failure or nothing will get accomplished. Sixth, you need to show some initiative. Develop and implement a plan of action. And finally, develop your leadership capability. If you work on all of the aforementioned six tasks and master them to some degree, you will naturally be working on your leadership capacity.
Remember my earlier basic training story? I became identified as a potential leader by merely doing my job well. As the result of me having accepted the responsibility to become as good as I possibly could at the task at hand, I was recognized as a potential leader. Going forward in this book, I will provide a unique perspective from which you can view leadership and followership and perhaps infuse the concepts covered into your career progression plan, and become identified as someone with leadership potential within your organization.