LEARN MORE...

Followership.edited

Content type

User Generated

Subject

Business

Type

Homework

Uploaded By

ghpxrearnffn00

Pages

Showing Page:

1/9

Running head: FOLLOWERSHIP 1

FOLLOWERSHIP

Name:

Institution:

Date:

Showing Page:

2/9

FOLLOWERSHIP 2

Followership

ABSTRACT

Followership is a very crucial component of the leadership process. Traditionally,

researchers focused on the leader and never the follower. They thought that the leader was the

essential cog in the wheel of organizational outcomes. However, a recent focus on followership

has shown that followers have a very significant role to play in the success of the organization.

The paper sought to find out the crucial role that followership plays in an organization. Through

intense research in books and articles available, the paper has managed to describe in detail the

nature of followership and why it is indispensable in an organization. The paper finds out that

relational-based and role-based are the two perspectives of followership. The type of followers in

an organization informs the style of leadership that leaders use in their workplace. The paper

expounds on the typologies of followership, according to Zaleznik, Kelley, Chaleff, and

Kellerman. Leadership theories try to explain leadership and followership in the context of an

organization. The path-goal theory, LMX theory, and the followership theory attempt to explain

followership. These three theories have one thing in common; that followership has a very crucial

role to play in the achievement of organizational outcomes. The findings suggest that followers

are not only a part of the whole process but also agents of change. The behavior and characteristics

of followers can have a significant impact on organizational outcomes by influencing the leaders.

Followership and leadership are two sides of the same coin. None is independent, for they must

co-exist for organizational outcomes to be met. Therefore, the two must co-exist mutually,

combining the act of leading and following equally to achieve positive corporate results.

INTRODUCTION

Followership is a very crucial topic in the context of leadership. Leadership focuses entirely

on the role of someone who is in charge of a group of people. It can range from the leadership of

governments to the leadership of corporate organizations to the leadership of entities as small as

an elementary school. Leadership emphasizes on how an individual in charge of a group should

execute their duties to make sure that those under their leadership deliver what is required of them

(Cain, 2017). Leadership focuses on the leader and not those who are being led. Even when

leadership takes into account the followers, it is from the perspective of the leader and not the one

being led.

The crucial question in this context is whether leadership can exist without followership.

The answer to that question is an emphatic no. A leader is someone in charge of people. The

spectrum of leadership involves the leader and the follower. Leadership can be viewed from the

perspective of an equation. A leader plus followers equal leadership. In the context of the equation,

if followers were to be taken out of the equation, then there would be no leadership. There would

be a vacuum left, and followers must fill it before the whole process becomes leadership.

Seeing that there can be no leadership without followership, it is then crucial that an

exploration of this topic materializes. A leader can only succeed as much as those they are leading

are willing to be led (Kellerman, 2008). The primary objective of leadership is to achieve specific

outcomes through effective leadership. The burden of achieving these objectives rests almost

entirely on the shoulders of the followers. While a leader gives direction, followers execute the

instructions. If they perform them wrongly, then they fail, and their failure reflects on the leader

as well. The reverse is also true. The connection between leadership and followership shows

neither followership nor leadership exists on its own. Leadership needs followership if both need

to succeed.

Showing Page:

3/9

End of Preview - Want to read all 9 pages?

Access Now

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Running head: FOLLOWERSHIP 1 FOLLOWERSHIP Name: Institution: Date: FOLLOWERSHIP 2 Followership ABSTRACT Followership is a very crucial component of the leadership process. Traditionally, researchers focused on the leader and never the follower. They thought that the leader was the essential cog in the wheel of organizational outcomes. However, a recent focus on followership has shown that followers have a very significant role to play in the success of the organization. The paper sought to find out the crucial role that followership plays in an organization. Through intense research in books and articles available, the paper has managed to describe in detail the nature of followership and why it is indispensable in an organization. The paper finds out that relational-based and role-based are the two perspectives of followership. The type of followers in an organization informs the style of leadership that leaders use in their workplace. The paper expounds on the typologies of followership, according to Zaleznik, Kelley, Chaleff, and Kellerman. Leadership theories try to explain leadership and followership in the context of an organization. The path-goal theory, LMX theory, and the followership theory attempt to explain followership. These three theories have one thing in common; that followership has a very crucial role to play in the achievement of organizational outcomes. The findings suggest that followers are not only a part of the whole process but also agents of c ...
Purchase document to see full attachment