Leadership and Followership
Characteristics of Effective Followers
Having effective followers in an organization is the key tool to having a powerful operative industry. It allows for the organization to have multiple characteristics to run separate ideas and to allow for alternate paths to success. These particular traits in an organization pursue the advancement in areas of different individuals. To explain, these characteristics are: awareness, diplomacy, courage, collaboration and critical thinking. Often, to be a successful leader, the essential element is the ability to solve problems.
For a follower to maintain an active role, one must have to the patience to involve themselves in the audience they are aiming for. Being aware of
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From this, one could have specific expectations and it 's their duty to have the ability to properly provide the essential elements that will lead to the success of themselves and other that are involved. In an organization there are many moving parts and it 's important to understand where each individual is expected to perform. Currie (2014) states that "effective followers also know whose work is made possible by their own and are mindful that the quality and timeliness of their efforts are crucial to the success of others" (p. 16). The follower in a workplace must have the ability to collaborate.
Lastly, critical thinking is another important factor to a follower. This trait provides how successful the organization will be. Currie (2014) explains that "they know how to plan their work, monitor deadlines, and communicate problems to their leader" (p. 16). This can enhance the organization and lead to better leadership skills. The follower could consider all the problem area and act on each in a timely fashion for overall improvement.
In conclusion, the five characteristics for an effective follower are awareness, diplomacy, courage, collaboration and critical thinking. These are important elements because each provides steps and offers how effective the organization will be. From experience, each characteristics is essential to a proper workplace and an effective
Kelley, R.E. (1992). Followership. In Goethals, G.R., Sorenson, G.J. & Burns, J.M. (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of leadership (pp. 504-513). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
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
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.
The interactive process between leaders and followers involves utilizing listening and communication skills (Northouse,2013). Leaders in servant leadership listen first and use empathy to better understand their followers. Empathy is the ability to better understand an individual by placing yourself in their shoes. Having this ability allows the follower to feel validated and worthy (Northouse, 2013). by finding solutions to personal problems a follower may have, is offering support. Awareness, or emotional intelligence, is another trait a servant leader possesses. Leaders must be aware of how their actions affect their followers. This can be how they dress or their correspondence in an email Northouse, 2013).
Contemporary organizations expect advantageous styles of leadership to lead and facilitate operations as we move forward into the 21st century. This need requires leaders and organizations to instill a style of leadership advantageous to supporting and leading a culture towards organizational effectiveness and connecting to support and uphold organizational strategies. Thus, the success of an organization usually contains successful leaders who understand and support the needs of the employees. The characteristics of successful leaders include selflessness, mentoring, empowerment, influence, support and empathy among other positive traits (Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo & Sutton, 2011; Karakitapoglu-Aygun & Gumusluoglu, 2013; Sabir, Sohail & Khan, 2011; Shankers & Sayeed, 2012).
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.
2). Risk – Willing to take on a high risk, and engage in self-sacrifice to
Other attributes of a leader are selflessness, knowledge, organization, humility, and trust. Perhaps the most difficult part of being a leader is knowing that each decision you make will h...
However, each of the behaviors can be used individually or collectively as different situations call for different behaviors (Whitener, 2007). Follower characteristics describe how an individual will interpret ...
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.
Another author that has investigated the followership topic but asserts a few qualifications between her work and others is Kellerman. She characterizes her work as more descriptive than prescriptive as she considers there must be such a variety of variables impacting the followers behaviors that it is hard to be instructive. According to Kellerman (2008), there are two conceivable definitions about followers: “Followers can be defined by their rank: They are subordinates who have less power, authority, and influence then do their superiors”. And “followers can also be defined by their behavior: they go along with what someone else wants and intends”. Kellerman (2008) uses rank and behavior as determinants to characterize followers, focusing
Followership is an important concept for leaders to understand because without a solid base of followers, a leader is nothing. Followers are people who support and obey the wishes of a leader. Even if an organization has the greatest leader in the history of leaders, the organization can still fail without the development of its members. Followers are the individuals who make the organization function. Identifying and improving their skills will help bolster the organization. The continuing push for efficiency in all aspects of business is another valuable aspect of the importance of followership (Kelley). When people work together more efficiently, it saves time and m...
Leadership is defined as a process by which an individual influences others to obtain goals. There are three aspects that should be addressed when explaining leadership. One aspect is that leadership is a social influence process; leadership could not exist without a leader and one or more followers. Another leadership aspect is compliance; all of the leader’s directions must be complied with voluntarily. Compliance is what separates leadership from other influence-based formal authority. Finally, leadership results in the followers’ behavior, that is purposeful and goal-directed which must be in some organized setting (Leadership Theories and Studies, 2009).
The fourth characteristic is being open to new ideas. Strong followers give input and contribute, but they also realize that good ideas can come from others as well. Listening to what others have to say can be extremely beneficial to the team as a whole. It is important for followers to listen with their ears and their mind.
Another aspect of leadership includes leadership traits such as being influential and inspirational. There also different contexts of leadership, e.g, leading oneself, leading other individuals, leading groups, leading organizations. Some traits that are often associated with being an effective leader include a measure of intelligence, high energy, self confidence, dominance, and a need for achievement. An effective, charismatic leader must lead by example. That leader must be able to know what is going on, the job or task that is being accomplished, and be able to lead the group into performing the task at hand successfully.