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Leadership And Followership

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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 …show more content…
In Russell’s (2003), she explains this fairly well by saying, “despite the comparative lack of attention paid to followers in the literature, it is clear that different leadership types view followers in different ways. Singular leader models, for example, tend to see followers as people with lesser abilities relying on the leader’s expertise (Conger and Kanungo, 1988), whereas flatter models are more likely to regard leadership as a form of social influence (Bennett, 1991; Bryman, 1992; Eisenhower in Clemmer and McNeil, 1989)”, (p.145). We need not to disregard or ignore a very important piece of this process that we have described as leadership. An effective follower is someone who is able to take on the responsibilities that have been handed down to them, they are able to work independently with minimal supervision, they share a common value and goal as their leaders. The follower role has a massive impact on the leadership process and the leaders themselves and should not be overlooked as often as it …show more content…
Adapting to new situations came easily to me. Life brings forth all of its surprises and it is up to us to take these experiences and learn and develop from them. I never specifically had any opportunities for a leadership role until I was studying for my undergraduate degree. Until then, I perfected my skills as an effective follower. The bright side to watching from the side lines was that I was able to take everything in that I have learned from previous and current leaders and develop what I felt my leadership style was when I finally reached that point. I’ll admit, my first leadership experience was frightening but I took that and developed from it and now I am even more confident that I can lead with minor complications. All that needs to change in my current situation is to be offered a wonderful leadership

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