Stewardship relationship between leaders and followers in which leaders lead without dominating or controlling followers. With these few words in their number, and the great in. Trust is vital to both leadership and followership. Sep 29, 2018 leadership is often praised to the detriment of followership. Rather it is a process whereby followers engage in constructively critical thinking, and interact with and support the leader to help achieve a task. This is because the characteristics of an effective follower are closely correlated with the attributes of a good leader regardless of the leadership style, 2010. First, the leaderfollower relationship is a binary connection between two or more persons where the roles and responsibilities of leadership and followership alternate between them in complex ways. Managers are thought to be authoritative and transactional while leaders are charismatic and transformational. What is the best relationship between leaders and followers. A junior doctor can tactfully question his seniors as to why a decision is taken, understand it and then convey this with a sense of purpose to the nursing staff. The relationship between leadership and followership flin, oconnor and crichton 2008 describe followership as leadership influence on subordinates, noting that leadership is not something a leader possesses, so much as a process involving followership and, finally, that without followers there is no leadership or leaders. Research on interactions between transformational leadership and follower characteristics is so far sparse. Study results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the leadership and the followership styles. Oct 17, 2017 in the iconic leadership tome good to great, jim collins introduced level 5 leaders, those executives with the highest leadership capability.
Poor followers take negative attributes into their leadership styles. Good followership is characterized by active participation. Define followership and identify different types of followers. The success of organizations is more the result of good followership rather than great leadership. In practice, the distinction between leaders and followers appears small. Good, skilled followers are able to nurture good leadership, by invisibly helping keep a novice leader upright and on track. Good leaderfollower relationship is not only the leader behavior resulting in subordinate behavior, but also a twoway process, which. It exists within a framework of passionate interchange between leader and follower, like a wellchoreographed dance of ideas. Wondering who else might be using the term followership, my research quickly revealed that a growing literature on followership already exists. The relationship between followership styles and leadership.
The relationship between transformational leadership and. A lack of good followership is symptomatic of poor leadership, although in order to qualify as good, followership must still follow certain rules. In the iconic leadership tome good to great, jim collins introduced level 5 leaders, those executives with the highest leadership capability. The differences between leaders and managers are not quite as clear. Show enough good judgement as a follower and you usually end up getting a shot. In any international organization, the relationship between leaders and followers also is depending on cultural values. It goes much further than simply doing no harm or damage to people within their working environment. Followership is the actions of someone in a subordinate role. Discuss how issues of emotional intelligence, trust, gender, and servant leadership are informing todays leadership models. Pdf leadership and followership in organizational impact. Followers are enabled to make decision and have control over jobs make sure you are enabled to assume responsibility.
Exploring the relationship between leadership and followership of. Aug 10, 2018 whats the 1 true source of good leadership. After all, an underlying truth is that leaders would be nonexistent without the support of their followers. Kelley successfully developed an assessment to identify the varying types of followers and brought high visibility to the importance of followership in the leaderfollower relationship, which he details in his book the power of followership. The first section describes the relationship between followership and leadership styles and traits. Leadership is a process that emerges from a relationship between leaders and followers. The link between identity and leadership and its function in understanding the world we live in is therefore of critical importance. Followership can be defined as the ability to follow a leader, but the role of the follower goes much deeper than simply following a leaders vision. Let me take a risk and suggest the pharisees werent purposefully evil, but rather they became so blinded by their preferences and assumptions that they missed the. I have experienced many different types of leaders. Effective leadership and followership is relationship. From a leadership perspective, the key to understanding the relationship between the leader and follower is recognizing that no one is either one type or the other. Aristotle has been quoted as saying, he who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. Like all the other types of art, leadership takes practice and experience to be skilled at using it.
Honesty leadership comes with a lot of responsibilities, one of which is honesty. Followership is a crucial part of leadership, but has only recently gained momentum in the leadership community and literature. Key to this process is listening, because leadership is as much about listening as it is about talking, or perhaps more so. More than ever, technology is leveling the playing field between leaders and those they lead. Fundamentally, a good leader follower relationship is about trust, openness and respect. Gibbons and bryant 2012 define followership as a social relationship between the leader, followers and the group. Texas ffa officer perceptions of good followership.
Good, skilled followers are able to develop good leaders, by invisibly helping keep the novice leader upright and on track. The relationship between leadership and followership uk essays. Traits of successful relationships between leaders and. Yes, these great leaders showed leadership to those who joined them in their. Therefore, the difference between leadership and followership is the process of learning and gaining the skills required to lead others. A leader cannot lead if there are no followers, likewise a follower cannot follow if there is no leader. If the needs of the followers are met than it is more likely that the relationship and interactions between leader and follower will produce an increase of lmx from the followers. Sep 09, 20 servant leadership puts the emphasis on the needs of the followers psu wc, l1, p. A good leader is responsible for creating an environment. The difference between leadership and followership essay. Here are some of the attributes of successful relationships between leaders and followers. Servant leadership puts the emphasis on the needs of the followers psu wc, l1, p.
Authentic followership is influenced by authentic leadership. Skills you learn as a follower are applied when you become a leader. However, the effectiveness of leaders to a large measure depends on the qualities of their followers. What good is a leader who has no one willing to follow them. People will be more effective leaders when their behaviors indicate that they are one of us, that they share our values, concerns and experiences, and are working for us. There is a dynamic relationship of mutual benefit and support between the leader and the follower.
However, great leadership is often attributed to great followership. All leaders are followers, but not all followers are leaders. Investing thought into the relationship between leaders and. Discuss the recent developments in leadership theory of leadermember exchange and inspirational leadership. Followership is important in the discussion of leadership for several reasons. A good leader is responsible for creating an environment conducive to an exemplary followership style. This suggests that what good leadership looks like is. One could argue that any good leader is in turn a good follower. Principles leaders are people who make decisions within organizations and cause others to support and implement these. The importance of good followership lapa fundraising. I have been in the marine corps for 16 years and started off enlisted as a 21yearold private first class and find myself now a warrant officer.
Vision contributor michael mckinney asked two of the articles authors, reicher and haslam, to comment further mm in the scientific american mind article you write that effective leaders must work to understand the values and opinions of their followers. If leadership isnt just an influence process, then its a role in a hierarchy, but this is biologically primitive. The relation between leadership and followership is straight. Leadership is often praised to the detriment of followership. In caps leadership text, it defines leadership as an art. I would say for me i have found followership to be an integral quality of my leadership style when it comes to people management. Independent thinking and active engagement using 79 usable. Leadership is a person or group of people who have taken on the position of assisting others through motivation, good decision making, and a. Collins and his colleagues studied companies that appeared on the fortune 500 list between 1965 and 1995 and identified those that were able to beat market industry returns significantly over a period of at least 15 years. More and more people are challenging hierarchal structures and those at the head of them. Followership is the relationship that completes leadership.
A follower shares in an influence relationship among leaders and other followers with the intent to support leaders who reflect their purposes. Followership is not blind obedience, being a yes man, or being disingenuous in your support of your leader. When followers and leaders are working effectively together this will also have a positive impact on the organisation they work for. Leadership and followership learning objective to recognize the importance of leadership, its basic functions, qualifications for leadership, the forms that leadership takes, and relationships between leaders and followers. Independent thinking and active engagement using 79. This seems a rather perplexing oversight as it is difficult to imagine leadership without attention being paid to the followers for there is a widespread perception that to succeed at leadership one must first master followership. To be a good leader, start by being a good follower. The best of men for you to hire is the strong, the trustworthy. To some extent, the relationship between leaders and followers resembles a miniature democracy.
Cavell 2007 suggested several identified traits of good followers such as honesty, loyalty, trustworthy, ethics, team player, high energy, listener, patience, and positive attitude. And like leadership, followership needs to be trained. Leadership scholars are increasingly turning their attention to the understanding of followership in recognition that without it, leadership is a moot point. Apr 10, 2019 a lack of good followership is symptomatic of poor leadership, although in order to qualify as good, followership must still follow certain rules. The day when a leader could expect blind allegiance is gone.
Dec 23, 2011 the relationship between leaders and followers within an organizational region has many different characters to the relationship of leaders and followers across the region. Good followership benefits both followers and leaders in a variety of ways. For example, followers can develop a greater sense of ownership in work and objectives and trust for their leaders and organizations. The second section details the expected styles and traits of a follower and leader in business quality management. Followership problems manifest themselves in a poor work ethic, bad morale. The issue of leadership and followership is more than anything a matter of trust, mcfayden said. Jan 21, 2016 fundamentally, a good leader follower relationship is about trust, openness and respect. Treister et al 1997 go on to say good leadership enhances followers, just as good followership enhances leaders. Thus, followership should be credited as leadership. There is a skill set for leadership and followership. Most individuals and organizations would be best served by letting others, with. This study examined the relationship between the constructs of leadership, as operationalized through the leadership personality survey lps, and followership, as operationalized by the power of. Mar 31, 2015 followership is the art of working with others in a supportive yet fulfilling way.
Kelley, are highly engaged and thinking independently. Pdf the relationship between followership styles and. Relationship between leadership style and followership style anubha walia dr. A study was conducted to measure the relationship between leadership styles and followership style i.
Followership describes the behaviors of the men and women who make an organization work. In creating such an environment the leader should be prepared to. So followers are just as important as leaders are to a leaderfollower relationship. The language used for effective followership is exemplary followership, coined by dr. It can also be considered as a specific set of skills that complement leadership, a role within a hierarchical organization, a social construct that is integral to the leadership process, or the behaviors engaged in while interacting with leaders in an effort to meet organizational objectives. Followership is the art of working with others in a supportive yet fulfilling way. Quite simply, where followership is a failure, not much gets done andor what does get done is not what was supposed to get done. Nov 04, 2010 there is an important lesson here for followers. Engagement between authentic leaders and followers can produce higher levels of selfregulation and positive developmental outcomes. When you are leading a team of people, you are supposed to be honest in whatever you guide them. Jan 17, 2016 why followership is now more important than leadership.
Organizations require not only effective leaders, but also supportive followers. It exists within a framework of passionate interchange between leader and follower, like. The participation in decision making means that leaders and followers are sharing in responsibilities. Barbara kellermans book followership makes this same point. Want to read more on the relationship between vision and leadership. The relationship between followership styles and leadership styles. It doesnt just mean following directions or blindly accepting everything a leader says. Leaders must be able to trust their followers will carry through on their tasks and followers must trust that their leaders will do the right thing. However, followership is not only about the individuals who follow within a team. Military perspectives on good followership includes behaviors such as. The difference between leadership and followership ccmsgt abraham cheng leadership and followership are two very distinct concepts, but it is impossible to have one without the other. Bad followership includes resisting good leadership. Followership may take the backseat to leadership but it matters.
A good lfr is one that represents true collaboration between the partners in and considers both the value given and the value gained by both. Therefore, the role of the followership significantly contributes in the leadership process. The relationship between leadership and followership. Research on interactions between transformational leadership.
People with authenticity, with credibility, with heart, with passion for what they believe, with vision and with skills to pursue that vision, who understand that the essence of leadership is relationship. In fact, the practice of japanese business schools is to teach leadership and followership as two integrated facets amar, 2001. Managers are thought to be authoritative and transactional while leaders are charismatic and. Followership, as its name suggests, is learning to be a follower. Followership versus leadership government technology. The modern workplace has become very sophisticated, and the need for agility and participation in decision making are now more important than ever. Why followership is now more important than leadership forbes. There is a clear relationship between leadership and followership and the differences between the two are relatively clear. In these next pages, i explore the evolving dynamic between leaders and followers and. This is because the characteristics of an effective follower are closely correlated with the attributes of a good leader regardless of. Good followership, by contrast, is the stuff of nearly nothing. Why followership is now more important than leadership. Reporting relationships are shifting, and new talentmanagement tools and approaches.