Learning to Lead “True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that can’t be mandated. It must be earned” (Maxwell, 1998, p. 4). Leaders who successfully earn the respect, appreciation, and admiration of their followers unlock opportunities for growth and open doors to greatness that may remain closed and locked otherwise. Great leaders rely on their influence to build and leverage relational equity so that together, the leader and his or her followers can achieve exponentially more than they ever could have as individuals. As much as followers need leaders, leaders also need followers. Pisapia (2009) found that strategic leaders use social influence to engage their followers and move them from simply compliant to fully committed. The interdependent leader-follower relationship is dynamic, symbiotic, and reciprocal; both parties’ roles evolve over time, constantly shifting and adapting to collectively meet the organization’s ever-changing needs (Pisapia, 2009). An effective leader is both leader and follower, as situations demand. Leadership and followership are not opposite ends of the same continuum, but …show more content…
In this brief paper, I will articulate some of the outcomes of my reflection, reading, and research, organized within a framework consisting of two parts. Part one, “Self,” will focus almost exclusively on the application of my learning to my own, personal, leadership journey. Part two, “World,” will focus primarily on the broader application of my learning, concentrating on the how what I have learned affects the way that I perceive and engage with the culture and organization within with I live and
Thousands of years ago, leadership, authority, structure, and rules were the basis of the Bible and Hammurabi’s Code. These set in stone that era’s belief in a reward-based system to incentivize people to work, and obey. You followed the rules, you were rewarded; you didn’t, and you were punished. During the classical era of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, great leaders were educated and experienced in strategic planning, goal setting, critical thinking, and having great communication to their followers, who in turn became great leaders themselves. During this era, we begin to see the nuances of an integral part of transformational leadership: the impact your followers can have on your individual success as a leader. Plato said that
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
Küpers, W. (2007). Perspectives on Integrating Leadership and Followership. Retrieved 4 22, 2014, from International Journal of Leadership Studies: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol2iss3/kupers/kupers.htm
In this book, the authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie examine the question “What are the keys to being an effective leader?” To answer this question they had a team that reviewed data collected from Gallup polls. The data came from interviews from 20,000 senior leaders, over a million teams and more than fifty years of Gallup Polls of the most admired leaders in the world. The authors then had the team do a study of more than 10,000 followers to find out why they follow the influential leaders in their life.
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
Mlls, D. Q. (2005). Leadership How to Lead, How to Live. Boston: Harvad Business School Press.
Reicher, S., Haslam, S., & Hopkins, N. (2005). Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 547-568. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.06.007
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.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
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.
Ivey Business Journal. (n.d.). Followership: the other side of leadership. Retrieved January 14, 2014 from http:iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/leadership/followership-the-other-side-of-leadership#.UtbFeaFMHIU
Rosen, R. H. (1997). Learning to lead. In F. Hesselbein, M. Goldsmith & R. Beckhard (Eds.), The Organization of the Future. The Drucker Foundation Future Series (p. 306). New York, NY: Jossey-Bass Inc Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership. (4th ed., p. 13). San Francisco: Johan Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Leaders are the individuals who help to create options and opportunities. They help in identifying the choices and solve the problems. They build commitment and coalitions. Leaders do this by inspiring others and working along with them to construct the shared vision of the possibilities and commitments of a better group, organization or community. They engage the followers in such a way that most of the followers become leaders in their own right. The variety of demands of an increasingly complex world very often require that leadership be shared by most of the members of an organization, in appropriate ways for different situations. A leader is the on...
Leaders are those who have a great influence on the lives of many people. This is especially relevant in today’s organizations, which face extreme time changes and an increasingly growing complexity (Yukl, 1998).
...process. Strong leaders seek the input of others in their organization, and strong followers seek to contribute whenever possible and appropriate.