Transcript CHAPTER 7 - FOLLOWERSHIP Damon Burton University of Idaho

CHAPTER 7 FOLLOWERSHIP
Damon Burton
University of Idaho
What is followership?
WHAT IS FOLLOWERSHIP?
Followership – an important role involved in
carrying out the responsibilities necessary to
keep organizations functioning effectively.
Effective followers are capable of selfmanagement and strive for excellence in
exercising their duties, while setting an
example for others and serving the needs of
others or the organization.
For example, Dawn Marshall was the best
cashier/bagger at Pathmark Supermarket.
ROLE OF FOLLOWERS
Without followers, there are no leaders.
The nature of leader-follower relationships
involves reciprocity, or the mutual exchange
of influence.
Effective followers have many of the same
qualities as possessed by good leaders.
Both leaders and followers are proactive, so
together they can achieve a shared vision.
• Outstanding ships had followers who
supported their leaders but took the
initiative and raised concerns when
needed.
What dimensions
differentiate
follower styles?
FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES
Kelley (1992) developed a
theory of followership based
on extensive interviews with
leaders and followers.
The model has 2 dimensions
• critical thinking and
• active-passive behavior.
DIMENSIONS OF
FOLLOWERSHIP
•
(1) Critical Thinking -- independent critical
thinkers understand the effects of people’s
behavior on achieving organizational goals.
• Critical thinkers -- weigh the impact of
decisions on the leader’s vision and offer
constructive criticism and creativity.
(2) Active-Passive Behavior – Active
followers participate fully in an
organization, engages in behavior beyond
job requirements, demonstrate a sense of
ownership, and initiate problem-solving
and decision-making.
KELLEY’S (1992)
FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES
FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES
(1) Alienated – passive, yet independent,
critical thinkers who often experience
obstacles and broken promises.
• They are cynical and focus on deficiencies.
(2) Conformist – participates actively but
does not think critically.
• They follow willingly but don’t consider the
consequences in order to avoid conflict.
• Rigid rules and authoritarian environments
often are the result.
FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES
(3) Pragmatic – has qualities of all 4 extremes,
depending on which style fits the situation. They
use the style that best benefit him and
minimizes risk.
• 25-35% of followers are pragmatic, play
politics and avoid risks.
• Government workers tend to be pragmatists.
(4) Passive – are passive and uncritical. They
display neither initiative nor a sense of
responsibility.
• When followers see initiative, creativity and
responsibility are not rewarded, or even
punished, they grow more passive.
FOLLOWERSHIP STYLES
(5) Effective – has critical, independent
thinking skills and is active in the
organization.
• They behave the same toward
everyone and try not to avoid risk or
conflict.
• Effective followers have the courage
to initiate change and put themselves
at risk or in conflict in order to serve
the best interests of the organization.
What are some
necessary demands of
effective followers?
EFFECTIVE FOLLOWER
DEMANDS
• courage to accept
responsibility,
• serve the needs of the
organization,
• challenge authority,
• participate in change, and
• leave the organization when
necessary.
COURAGE TO ASSUME
RESPONSIBILITY
• Effective followers -- feel a sense of
•
personal responsibility and ownership
in the organization and its mission.
They initiate the opportunities through
which they can achieve personal
fulfillment, exercise their potential and
provide the organization their best
effort.
COURAGE TO SERVE
• Effective followers – identifies the
needs of the organization and
actively seeks to serve those needs.
• A follower can provide strength to
leaders by supporting their decisions
and by contributing to the
organization in areas that
complement the leader.
• They serve others over themselves.
COURAGE TO CHALLENGE
• Effective followers – don’t sacrifice
•
•
their personal integrity or the good of
the organization in order to maintain
harmony.
A follower must take a stand if leaders’
actions or decisions contradict the best
interests of the organization.
The Army teaches soldier that it is their
duty to disobey illegal or immoral
orders.
COURAGE TO PARTICIPATE
IN TRANSFORMATION
• Effective followers – view
corporate change and
transformation as a mutual
experience shared by all members
of the organization.
• A follower must not be afraid to
confront change and work to
reshape the organization.
COURAGE TO LEAVE
• Effective followers – realize that personal
•
•
•
and organizational change create a situation
when it is better to move on.
Maybe they need a new challenge.
If the leader or organization repeatedly is
unwilling to make needed changes, a move
may be necessary.
Perhaps leader-follower conflict cannot be
resolved and the follower must leave (e.g.,
General Batiste stepping down over policies
in Iraq).
What are the primary
dimensions of Covey’s
Maturity Continuum?
DEVELOPING PERSONAL
POTENTIAL
 Stephen Covey’s (1989) 7 Habits of Highly



Effective People defines a habit as the
intersection of knowledge, skill and desire.
The habits leading to personal effectiveness
are arranged along a maturity continuum from
dependence to independence to
interdependence.
Independent followers have developed a
sense of self-worth and self-reliance.
Interdependent followers work cooperatively
with others, enriching their experience by
developing interpersonal relationships
COVEY’S MATURITY
CONTINUUM
DEPENDENCE TO
INDEPENDENCE
 Habit 1 – Be Proactive – taking initiative and

being responsible.
 having the ability to choose and acting with
integrity.
 Realizing that it is not what happens to you
but how you respond that is important.
Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind – start
with a clear image of your desired destination.
 Know what is important so you can work
systematically to fulfilling your dreams.
 Clarify goals and plans and establish values
for achieving them.
DEPENDENCE TO
INDEPENDENCE
 Habit 3 – Put First Things First –
encourages people to gain control
of time and events by relating
them to their goals and by
managing themselves.
Focus on preserving and
enhancing relationships and on
accomplishing results.
What is
interdependence and
why is it important?
EFFECTIVE
INTERDEPENDENCE
 Interdependence – caring, productive
relationships with others , termed
“public victories” by Covey.
 Moving to effective interdependence
involves open communication, effective
teamwork and building positive
relationships based on trust, caring and
respect.
 When followers move to
interdependence, they step into a
leadership role.
EFFECTIVE
INTERDEPENDENCE
 Habit 4 – Think Win-Win – organization cannot

succeed without cooperation. Win-win is a
frame-of-mind that seeks solutions that are
mutually beneficial and satisfying.
Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand Then to Be
Understood – the key to communicatin is to
listen with the intent to understand rather than
just thinking about what to say.
 Followers must be nonjudgmental and be able
to empathize with the other person’s
situation.
 Feeling understood promotes receptivity and
enhances communication.
EFFECTIVE
INTERDEPENDENCE
 Habit 6 – Synergize – omaximal teamwork

occurs when people with different viewpoints
come together because the differences present
new opportunities.
Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw – is the process of
using and continually renewing the physical,
mental, spiritual and social aspects of your life
to maintain a balanced life.
 Followers must be nonjudgmental and be able
to empathize with the other person’s
situation.
 Feeling understood promotes receptivity and
enhances communication.
What are the primary
sources of follower
power?
SOURCES OF
FOLLOWER POWER
Personal Sources –
 knowledge,
 expertise,
 effort and
 persuasion.
Position Sources –
 location,
 information and
 access.
STRATEGIES FOR
MANAGING UP
 Effective followers -- transform the
leader-follower relationship by
striving to improve leaders rather
than just criticizing them.
 Followers develop a meaningful,
task-related relationship with their
bosses that enables them to add
value to the organization, even if
their ideas conflict with the boss’.
How can followers
influence leaders?
WAYS TO INFLUENCE
YOUR LEADER
WHAT FOLLOWERS WANT
 Leaders have a duty to create a leader


follower relationship that engages the
whole person rather than treat followers
as passive sheep who should blindly
follow orders and support the boss
Followers want leaders to be honest,
forward-thinking, inspiring and
competent.
Followers want colleagues to be honest,
competent, dependable and cooperative.
The distinction between leadership and
followership is primarily vision and inspiration.
McKINSEY & COMPANY
FEEDBACK RESULTS
 Managers asked what factors most
contributed to corporate growth and
development, reported “candid,
insightful feedback” as one of the
most important elements.
 Most managers also indicated that
their supervisors did not do a good
job of providing such feedback.
USING FEEDBACK TO
DEVELOP FOLLOWERS
How should leaders
provide feedback to
followers?
FEEDBACK TIPS
 Cultivate emotional intelligence,
particularly empathy for what
followers are experiencing and
feeling.
 Make regular feedback a habit.
 Use elements of storytelling. (i.e.,
provide an example)
 Be generous with positive feedback.
 Train followers to view feedback as
an opportunity for development.
What is “selfmanagement
leadership” and why is
it successful?
LEADING OTHERS TO LEAD
THEMSELVES
Good leaders develop collaborative relationships
with followers.
Self-Management Leadership – calls for leaders to
share power and responsibility so anyone can
become a leader.
Formal leaders become coaches and mentors,
show trust in others, remove barriers to learning,
offer encouragement and support, and provide
constructive feedback.
Leaders develop followers by providing them with
opportunities to gain new experience and
understand.
They coach followers to think critically about
their own performance and judge how well they
are attaining their goals.
SELF-MANAGEMENT
LEADERSHIP
Self-Management Leadership (SML) – focuses
on providing followers with directed
autonomy.
Empowerment, participative management and
coaching are approaches that enhance
intrinsic motivation.
All leaders can encourage followers to think
independently and be willing to take risks,
challenge unproductive or unethical norms
and initiate organizational change.
West Point not only teaches rules, rigidity,
structure and conformity, but they also instill
character, creativity and flexibility, an
interesting paradox of follower/leader skills.
What is a “community
of followers?”
BUILDING A COMMUNITY
OF FOLLOWERS
The interdependence of leaders and followers
develops a sense of community.
Community – provides a spirit of connection
that sustains effective relationships and
commitment to team goals.
Community members accomplish shared goals
because of trust and teamwork.
In a community, members are able to
communicate openly, maintain their
uniqueness and be committed to something
larger than themselves.
Effective followers are the foundation of
community development.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
COMMUNITY
Inclusivity – everyone is welcome and feels a
sense of belonging. Differing points-of-view are
encouraged, and the focus is on the whole not the
parts.
Positive Culture – shared norms and values
develop and socialize newcomers into the culture.
Adaptive values are encouraged too deal with
change.
Conversation – Dialogue is a type of
communication in which persons suspend their
attachment to a particular viewpoint, allowing a
deeper level of listening, synthesis and meaning
to evolve for the community.
• Conversation builds consensus and collaboration
necessary for community.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
COMMUNITY - 2
Caring and Trust – Members care
about each other. People are
responsible for how their actions
affect others, but they help others
grow without trying to change or
control them. Trust develops and
ethical behavior is emphasized.
Shared Leadership – A spirit of
equality develops, and everyone has
an opportunity to make valued
contributions.
COMMUNITIES OF
PRACTICE
Communities of Practice (COP) – are made
up of individuals who are informally bound
to one another through exposure to a
similar set of problems and a common
pursuit of solutions.
Similar to professional societies, people join
them and stay in them “by choice,” because
they believe that they have something to
learn and something to contribute.
COPs are informal and voluntary, and
followers are often in better position to
establish COPs than leaders.
The
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