When coaching people there will be many obstacles people will have to go through, but at the end of the day it will be worth the time and effort. People who want to do a good job and represent their company while helping others achieve their goals in the process. “Great followers don’t make it about them. They are humble. They shine the light on the leader. They make their own boss look good—especially in front of his or her boss.” (Hyatt) This is an example of a worker who means business and will do whatever it takes to get things completed. Followers are people who want to do what is ask of them and without making a big deal out of things. “They understand their role. You can’t be a good follower unless you have clearly identified the leader. While you may be a leader in your own realm, everyone has a boss—including you. Great followers not only accept this fact but embrace it.” (Hyatt) People who cannot listen, do things that are asked, and are inconsiderate may not be the best at the situation. They may also fail in the workplace too because everyone has a coach or leader they have to answer to at some point. …show more content…
“All coaches will tell you followers do with who they are, I define followers according to their rank: They are low in the hierarchy and have less power, authority, and influence than their superiors. They generally go along to get along, particularly with those in higher positions. In the workplace, they may comply so as not to put money or stature at risk. In the community, they may comply to preserve collective stability and security—or simply because it’s the easiest thing to do.” (Kellerman) Some people are willing to go above and beyond their list of requirements of the job just to get higher on the corporate ladder. They feel this is the only way to get ahead and get a better job for
This is where transformational leaders excel in their roles as motivators and change agents; however, one characteristic that resonates most with followers is the leader’s ability to define vision and mission. Ballou (2015) used the analogy of an orchestra conductor possessing the musical score that provides the details for every participant in the ensemble. The ability of the leader to bring clarity to the vision enables followers to understand the ‘why’ of their hard work. While seemingly autocratic, followers accept direction from transformational leaders because they demonstrate selflessness and are most interested in the team’s success, not their own. These highly regarded traits can alleviate tension in diverse groups by focusing on the vision, not individual differences. While there are similarities between the servant and transformational leader, there are important differences as well. In the book, The Leadership Challenge (2002, p. 153), the authors suggested that transformational leadership affects not only the followers, but the leader as well, by raising each other to achieve the higher purposes of motivation and morality. Another vital component of transformational leadership is the fostering of participation when making decisions. It is never the intention of the leader to inject his or her opinion, especially at the onset of the process. This ability allows followers to arrive at consensus by encouraging team participation, which invites involvement and buy-in of the vision, while decreasing the likelihood of inter-team conflict. The true transformational leader inspires the team because they have achieved a high level of self-actualization, which allows them to encourage and recognize the achievements of others without feeling threatened. When followers are fortunate enough to be led by a transformational
Leaders will act as role models to inspire their followers. Besides, the leader will challenge the followers to take a greater ownership of their work. Transformational leaders normally understand follower’s strength and weakness so that the leader will not affect their performance when allocating task for them. Nevertheless, transformational leadership can inspire or motivate followers to achieve a better result compared to originally planned (Mihhailova, 2014).
It has been stated how the transformational effect of charismatic leaders lead to increased follower motivation (Humphreys, 2009). Due to the various attributes that transformational leaders have, such as charisma and understanding, they are likely to motivate others to follow after the examples that they may display. There is also Effective followership. Effective followership prepares a person to be an Effective leader since being a follower is considered as a prerequisite to leading. According to Humphreys (2009), organizations are comprised of groups of followers and leaders, who are listening and taking direction from one
One may wonder exactly what it is that qualities a strong leader possesses. A strong leader is determined, and strong willed. They must be of good judgment, and without bias. They cannot easily be persuaded, and they are firm, yet at the same time, a good lead must also empathize with his subordinates, and have the best interest at heart for said subordinates, at all times. However, with that being said, a good leader cannot be afraid to discipline his subordinates when necessary. Unmistakably, being a leader is a very difficult feat – one which not everyone can accomplish. A leader must be an authority, a friend and a counsellor, all at once. They must be responsible, and always take into account the disadvantages of a situation. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, whereas, just about anybody can be a good role model.
There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself. Great followership is a reflection of great leadership. In this, the follower is just as important as the leader in the relationship. Many great leaders have asserted that a leader with even a modicum of understanding of what drives their subordinates can take their organization to previously undreamt-of heights in creativity and productivity. Collins does not disabuse us of this notion, he does however add that the follower is indispensable agent in this interplay between leader and follower.
Coaching is not an easy task and figuring out the best way to lead and guide employees can be overwhelming and challenging. Alex is now in a position where she has to be a motivator, leader, and a coach to several employees. She needs to understand the concept of coaching and the behaviors that go along with her coaching style. The concept of coaching helps develop and grow employees to achieve performance improvement, but it also helps the managers see how the employees embrace their job tasks and asses their results in comparison to the overall mission of the company (Bawany, 2015). Therefore, Alex needs to look back at her previous managers and determine what qualities and behaviors they possessed in order to improve her performance. Also, she must look at what personality traits James has and look at his previous managers to see which manager coached James to perform the best while working for the company.
Kellerman’s theories examine followers not as subordinates, but as co-participants in leadership (Ekundayo, Damhoeri, & Ekundayo, 2010). Thus she focuses as much on the followers as the leadership it is trying to unlock. She sees followers as defined by their level of engagement extending from isolationists to diehards (Kellerman, 2007). By defining these followers, according to Kellerman, leaders can quickly determine the nature of the leader-follower relationship. This provides leaders with information on how much or little their followers are invested in the organization they are involved.
“A coach is someone who is equipped to aid individuals or groups and organisations to maximise their performance in pursuit of their desired goals.” (Dexter et al, (2011) p.4)
Leadership is a dynamic and interesting topic. There have been hundreds of studies done on the subject, and many seek to find out why some leadership styles are better than others. Other studies attempt to look into the personality traits of certain leaders to find any defining characteristics that makes them stand out among their peers. The information gathered here is from all over the world, and from multiple disciplines. In all of these studies, common themes begin to arise from the data. Coaches, managers, team leaders and experts in the field of study, all agree that these main three topics are crucial for effectively leading any group of people. Building trust, communicating effectively, and looking towards
To become a truly effective leader, one must encapsulate the various behaviors related to the aforementioned course learnings in his/her persona and demonstrate such behaviors daily. This course has allowed me to identify four behaviors that all leaders must portray to be effective. The first of which is that a leader must be inspirational. To do so, a leader must set the appropriate vision and direction for the organization and provide a path to achieving defined goals. Additionally, a leader must induce the proper levels of motivation so that each employee has sufficient incentive to work towards the organization’s goals. As discussed in the class, motivation can be accomplished by factors such as rewarding hard work and providing the correct opportunities to employees. While these are motivating in that employees desire to be fairly compensated and to be doing work they deem valuable, inspiration comes more from organizational culture. A leader will be inspirational by setting a tone that appreciates each employee’s contribution, no matter how small in scale it is. Further, employees are inspired when they work collaboratively in a group setting and can capitalize on individual strengths to drive organizational goals.
The practices of a leader can have wide spread implications. They can impact individual stakeholders and the organization as a whole. Clark (2013) states that “you must be the role model you want others to grow into” (para. 9). A strong leader leads by example, is ethical, and earns the trust and respect of their followers. They are also conscientious of the impact they have on the world around them. They practice impeccable communication and learn to inspire others with a positive vision for the future. Clark (2014) describes leadership as the methods of influencing others to accomplish objectives in a collective manner in the direction of the organization's vision.
As defined by Kellerman (2008), there are five types of followers: bystanders, isolates, participants, activists, and diehards. At any given point, an organization can include members who fall into some or all of these categories. The isolates care very little for their leaders and the organization and generally just want to get the job done and do not respond well to leadership. In fact, isolates resent the idea of leadership. Bystanders on the other hand, are those followers who follow passively, observing from the side, rarely getting involved. They do not resent leadership as the isolates do, but offer very little support to the leaders. Participants care about the group/organization and generally want to make an impact, if they feel that the leader will support them. On the other hand, activists have strong beliefs about the organization and their leaders. If they agree with their leaders, they follow them almost blindly, but if they do not, they work to get rid of their leaders. Those employees with the highest level of engagement within an organization are diehards. If they agree with the path their leaders is taking them down is the right direction, they will follow. However, if they think their leader is destructive, “imposing goals on constituents without their agreement of regard for their long-term welfare” (Padilla et al., 2007, pg.177), then these followers
Followers: a non-submissive influencer who have devotion to a task and who 's state of mind is a powerful ingredient for the success of an organization and a leader. Followers create the influence necessary for a leader to have authority. Without it the organization will
They enjoy taking up a challenge and embracing change as they know it will benefit them in the long term while followers have to be forced to drive out a project by their boss. They rarely, if ever, volunteer to take on a project by themselves. Leaders are hands-on, and are not content with simply waiting for the next step to be done. They despise indecisiveness and are driven crazy if the progress is far behind. They accept and take responsibility over the team’s mistakes and are motivated to conquer the team’s obstacles while they are at it however team members are re-active, content with inactivity, as long as nobody is on their backs about it. Obstacles throw them off course and they look to leaders to re-build their confidence and set them back on the right track. (Careerwise.ie, 2013)
“Even though followership is not something that is commonly researched or regarded as a skill to strive for, business thinkers and strategists agree that the success of leaders is highly dependent upon the ability of followers” (Lundin & Lancaster, 1990, p. 18). Though I was succeeding as leader in this environment, it did not satisfy me on a personal level. This dissatisfaction leads me to start my own consulting company where I specialize in non-profit and small business start up. I find my role as leader has transition to being a follower, when I state follower meaning I am under leadership of others who have successfully started their business. The transition has been challenging, as I am learning new concepts and techniques that were not available to me in my job