...Followership Sonia D. Smith Palm Beach State College Abstract Followership is important in order for a corporation to be successful. While the leader of an organization is an important role, a leader has to have followers to lead. This paper will look at what followership is defined as. It will also explore some of the demands on the effective follower and why effective followers are a critical resource for a leader. Followership One of the most important roles in an organization is followership. However, followership would not exist without trust and leadership. A leader is defined as one who “influences relationships among leaders and followers and who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes” (Daft, 2008). The two positions are entwined. Followers can shape a leaders behavior just like a leader can develop good followers. These roles are proactive and can work together to achieve the vision of the organization. In a time, not too long ago, followership meant to do as you were told and be quiet about it. Followers kept their heads down and did their job and did not ask questions. Recently, an employer’s expectations has changed for followers, and leaders are asking more from their subordinates than before. Everyone is or has been a follower at some time in their life. Even leaders have to have a followership role. For example, a supervisor on a production line has followers reporting to him/her. They in turn have to report to their...
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...Monica•Liu Reading Summary Followership: The theoretical foundation of a contemporary construct by Susan D. Baker The author Susan D. Baker of the article Followership: The theoretical foundation of a contemporary construct introduces the theoretical foundation of followership and gives a result of why leadership rather than followership is emphasized. She proves the points of the article by the following aspects: identifying the antecedents from which followership theory developed, naming early followership theorists and researchers and discussing their work, and identifying the common themes in their work. This article provides the missing foundation in contemporary discussion of the followership construct, because the author found that there were 6 followership survey instruments have been used in approximately 20 published different field studies, and these studies need to be assessed for their effectiveness and dedications to the field of followership. The findings from that assessment could provide a common base of understanding that could inform future research. In the beginning part of the article, the author looks back across a century of followership theory and introduces the origins about followership, and mentions that there is so much emphasis on leadership but little on followership. The article states that “the Great Men had their followers, troops, or devotees who followed in their footsteps, obeyed their directives, and faithfully mimicked their...
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...As Airmen of the United States Air Force and members of an elite group of service members, we are faced with roles. These roles define whom we are in our day to day occupation. Of these roles, we have the opportunity to experience the role of a leader and the role of a follower. I would like to take a moment to discuss a very important role that I feel is one we should all take into consideration, the roll as a follower. I feel that this is a very important subject based on the fact that one cannot fulfill the roll as an effective follower without the guidance of an effective leader. I would like to explain my view point by exploring what makes an effective leader, then following up by stating my view point on how followership relates to professional...
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...Followership is a concept that is vital to the survival to any or all leadership theories. According to Oregon Universities Holden Leadership Center, both are dependent upon the interaction of the other: “Team efforts.. require active followers. Followers set the levels of acceptance for leadership. And in many ways, it is more important for leaders to understand followers than for followers to understand leaders.” The site gave various signs of what makes a follower, namely, cooperating towards a mission in groups, demonstrating teamwork, and building cohesion among the group. It is described as the building blocks to effective leadership. It then laments at the scarcity of research and the recurring taboo surrounding followership. It gives seven signs that exemplify effective followership within a group: volunteering, acceptance of assignments, exhibiting loyalty, voicing opinions (but supporting final decisions), offering suggestions, maintaining a positive attitude especially in “confusing or trying times,” and working effectively as a team member. To most, the signs explain themselves. I think that at its heart, it’s the refusal of selfish tendencies as a worker, which is also at the center of being a good leader—followers have difficulty following selfish and toxic leaders, just as they should hold themselves to that same standard. The article continues to give examples of things followers can do to build up and optimize their group. They should strive to understand...
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...Discussion Board RE: Followership- Bystanders Definition: Followership can best be understood as having the willingness to follow a leader. Bystanders, according to Anita Satterlee’s book Organizational Management & Leadership are followers that, “observer from the sidelines and disengage from their leaders and their organizations. Bystanders may go along passively when it is in their self-interest to do so, but are not motivated to engage (p. 6).” Satterlee, A. 2013. Organizational Management & Leadership: A Christian Perspective. Raleigh, NC: Synergistics International INC. Summary: Jim Covel is the President of NAI (National Association for Interpretation and the senior manager of guest experience at Monterey, California’s, Monterey Bay Aquarium. In his article, “Leadership and “Followership”- We Can Learn a Lot from Sardines”, Covel uses his observation of sardines- “a school of 20,000 sardines”- to express the importance and often neglected concept of followership; “leaders and leadership are defined by the followers”, esteeming “followership as equally important to leadership.” In Covel’s article he is challenging the readers to understand that “leaders are only as effective as [their] followership allows”, stressing the fact that the “lack of good followership makes it much more difficult for good leaders to lead.” According to Covel there is a difference between sardines and human beings, and that is that sardines have a unique adaptation which...
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...Leadership and followership Viewing follower as an imitator of the leader, followership often viewed as trait of a weak personality- which is not true. “Followers are more important to leaders than leaders are to followers.”- Barbara Kellerman. Leadership and followership are two distinct but interdependent concepts. The world viewing the leader as the power holder, mostly preaches everyone to be a leader. Everyone needs to be a leader and a follower too. Power is not centralized with the leader but it is shared with the follower. Any leader will grow as he knows his community more and a follower grows with the leader too. In a given organization a person either by promotion or by recruitment will start as a positional leader and the team members will follow him because of the positional authority he holds, the involvement of the follower is at the basic level. Once the leader starts to know his community by being an active listener, the followers will be liking him more and will choose to follow him. By building this relation followers will be willing to participate in goal setting. Following the leader’s policy followers will have a vision about the results they are going to achieve collectively which will take their involvement to the next level. Seeing the personal gain in the collective goal, a follower will connect to the leader at a personal level which will make them more active followers. As the leader and the followers grow together they can make a successful team...
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...INTRODUCTION [pic] There is no leader without at least one follower. Yet the modern leadership industry, now a quarter-century old, is built on the proposition that leaders matter a great deal and followers hardly at all. Good leadership is the stuff of countless courses, workshops, books, and articles. Everyone wants to understand just what makes leaders tick—the charismatic ones, the retiring ones, and even the crooked ones. Good followership, by contrast, is the stuff of nearly nothing. Most of the limited research and writing on subordinates has tended to either explain their behavior in the context of leaders’ development rather than followers’ or mistakenly assume that followers are amorphous, all one and the same. As a result, we hardly notice, for example, that followers who tag along mindlessly are altogether different from those who are deeply devoted. In reality, the distinctions among followers in groups and organizations are every bit as consequential as those among leaders. This is particularly true in business: In an era of flatter, networked organizations and cross-cutting teams of knowledge workers, it’s not always obvious who exactly is following (or, for that matter, who exactly is leading) and how they are going about it. Reporting relationships are shifting, and new talent-management tools and approaches are constantly emerging. A confluence of changes—cultural and technological ones in particular—have influenced what subordinates want and how they...
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...Introduction This paper will highlight, in detail, my understanding of the concepts and theories of leadership and followership that I have learned over the past seven weeks. I will discuss what my former opinions were and what my ideas have transformed into after researching and explaining what makes a good leader and follower. Philosophy will also be discussed in detail and what I believe the actions one must take to achieve their goals. In this paper, I will also be discussing what my strengths are as a follower and a leader and where I still need to develop in both areas. Definitions of Leadership and Followership There are many ways to define what leadership and followership are. In Eddy and VanDerLinden’s (2006), they explain that...
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...Module One Assignment Topic Two: Evolution, Leadership and Followership With the development of information technology, firms trend to decentralize power and empower employees. That means the companies are going from a top-down vertical pattern to a horizontal model. The evolutionary leadership theory (ELT) can explain well the phenomenon. Hundreds years ago, in China, the emperor concentrated all rights, for example, he can decide people’s life or death. Emperor was born, not made. Today, some companies’ leader is still like an emperor, they do not accept other people’s opinions when they make decisions. Particularly, after they succeed, they have a superiority complex and they think they are always right when they different opinions with others. Sometimes, I have the superiority complex because of more work experience. In my previous work, I am the leader of data team which is responsible for the maintenance on database. My team members are all newly hired, so they do not know much about our system, but they have high professional skills. Depend on the condition of my team members, I think they should follow my order for no reason. However, I made a mistake by the style of leadership. One day, one of my team member told me there is a code error in our system, I replied him immediately:” No, our system is perfect, it has been already operated trouble-free in two years.” After one month, our system crashed by the code error. From the study of the evolutionary leadership theory...
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...The concept that was most important to me in the Leadership and Followership module was being a Team Leader. This is the type of leader I strive to be, especially as I work towards becoming a First Sergeant. Effective First Sergeants must complete all tasks while also having a relationship with their Airmen. This is necessary because the First Sergeant must have the faith, trust, and loyalty of those under them to foster a team environment. A team environment encourages members to work their hardest and reach their highest potential. Team Leaders are necessary for every unit’s effectiveness; without them, the unit’s work ethic, morale, and goal will deteriorate. The negative implications of not having a Team Leader include deteriorated work ethic, morale, and goals. If I do not become an effective Team Leader, my team members will lose motivation and become unproductive. An unsuccessful Team leader won’t be able to get members to focus on the task at hand, nor have a good working relationship with their peers or subordinates. A poor Team Leader may not take into consideration the personal needs of their Team Members which may cause them to become unfocused if they are...
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...| Followership in cases of conflict of interest. | By: Modupe Blessing Igbafen ABSTRACT An area is usually perceive as basic concerning the piece of followers in definitive ethics is aficionados' responses to dishonest requests by a leader (Carsten & Uhl-Bien, 2007). Followers face moral issues when leaders approach them with wrong requests, for instance, asking for that they take part in practices, which are doubtlessly beguiling. In such circumstances, supporters must settle on a decision: They can choose to stay up to the beguiling sales (e.g., by troublesome the pioneer's request, declining to join in exploitative direct or proposing alternative strategies) or they can oblige the pioneer's allure, largely getting the opportunity to be complicit with the untrustworthy behavior. This decision will apparently be connected with their emotions about follower’s relationship with pioneers, and their particular part. For followers to have the ability to stay up to a pioneer's exploitative sales, they ought not to see their followership part as reserved and obedient. Maybe, they must feel a commitment as a dynamic part in the administration process (Carsten & Uhl-Bien, 2007) INTRODUCTION. The idea of conflict of interest is more important today than any other time in recent memory. Moral sensitivities about the relationship in the middle of experts and those they serve are a wellspring of steady verbal confrontation. This book sets another standard for chip away...
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...Creative Polo- Marketing Plan GOALS REPORT POST-YEAR 2 & PRE-YEAR 3 Jose Figueroa, CEO I. Mission Statement It is the mission of Creative Polo to provide casual clothing with creativity at an affordable price to our customers, while maintaining a competitive style in comparison to our competitors. II. Year 2 Recap Year 2 was successful for Creative Polo, but there are still some things we can improve to assure that we stay competitive within our market. We meet all of our goals set for years 2 expect one goal, which was to pay off our long-term debt. Although we did not reach our goal of paying off our long-term debt, this goal will be shortly accomplishing in year 3 quarter 2. On the contrary we as a company did meet our goals of increasing market share & increasing the reputation of our brand. Although reputation is not something that can be measured, our sales have increased greatly. One can infer that as sales increase our reputation would increase as well. III. Marketing Strategy A. Pricing Strategy One of our main goals here at Creative Polo is to provide casual clothing with creativity at an affordable price. In staying faithful with our mission statement, we have maintained a competitive price across each quarter. According to our current market research the average price for a shirt is $20.83 and the average price for a pair of pants is $20.83. Creative Polo currently is selling shirts for $21.00 & and a pair of pants for $31.00. Creative Polo...
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...Chapter 9 Self-Assessment: Followership Styles Kelley proposes critical attributes that recognize exemplary and incapable followers. One of the traits is that followers focus on objectives within a large framework and decide on the role to perform at a specific time to expedite the accomplishment of organizational goals. An adherents' demonstration of commitment and duty to the organization beyond the individual level, separates them from ineffective followers. Additionally, compelling followers exhibits a desire to attain greater degrees of competency and regulate their endeavors to this that results in positive recognition from leaders. Another distinction between effective and ineffective followers is that the latter exhibit courage, honesty, enthusiasm, intelligence, and self-reliance. This is dissimilar to ineffective followers who withhold information, whereas effective followers contribute and share opinions, which is an advantage to the organization especially if certain issues are not covered. Overall, exemplary followers share all of the qualities of effective and successful leaders. Kelly’s concept of servant followership is regarded as an important contribution to organization behavior literature. This is due to his theory that “servant followership is more important than leadership” because the majority of people spend most of their time in subordinate roles rather than leadership positions. Kelly utilizers the term ‘exemplary’ to describe the ideal servant follower...
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...The New Thinking on Followership and Leadership Philosophy The New Thinking on Followership and Leadership Philosophy Is good followership more important than good leadership? Followership is defined as the ability or willingness to follow a leader. Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Effective followers can develop productive leader behavior just as effective leaders shape people into good followers. The new thinking on followership and leadership philosophy is very important In my opinion, good followers are just as important as the leader. According to Daft, “without followers, there are no leaders.” (Daft, 2010, pg. 196) People are followers more often than leaders, and effective leaders and followers share similar characteristics. An effective follower is both independent and active in the organization. To be an effective follower, one must not be alienated, conforming, passive, or pragmatic. Most people think of followers as ‘yes-men’ but this is far from the truth. A good leader would not be considered a good or effective leader if his or her followers always agreed with whatever the leader said. Roger Adair states, “A follower shares in an influence relationship among leaders and other followers with the intent to support leaders who reflect their mutual purpose.” There are five levels of rationale that followers...
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...In formal organizations of several levels, the ability to follow (dynamic subordinancy) is one of the first requirements for good leadership. Being an effective follower is a testing ground for future leaders, a place where employees are closely observed to see if they exhibit potential for leadership (Newstrom, 2013). Thus, skillful performance in current roles unlocks the door to future leadership opportunities. Good followers, then, need to succeed at their own jobs while helping their managers succeed at theirs. With few exceptions, leaders in organizations are also followers, they always report to someone else. For instance, the president of a public firm or non profit organization reports to a board of directors or trustees. Thus, leaders must be able to wear many hats, relate effectively both upward and downward. Is important as it is for leaders to give something to their superiors and employees, they need validation from higher authority as much as they need support from followers (Newstrom. 2013). Effective followers are highly participative, critical and independent thinkers. They aren’t just "yes men," and good leaders appreciate that because they are confident enough to hear opposing views that help them avoid pitfalls. When leaders are willing to follow others who are more qualified to lead particular tasks, the probability of the success of the greater objective is higher. Being a good leader is often about being able to be a good follower...
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