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Leadership and followership are closely intertwined. Effective followers can shape productive leadership behavior just as effective leaders develop employees into good followers. Followership is important in the discussion of leadership for several reasons. Without followers there are no leaders.
Why are effective followers as important as effective leaders?
The best followers make the best leaders because they view the people they lead as their equals–people with their own minds thoughts, ideas, and talents. They value the contributions of each individual employee and their importance to achieving the end goals.
What makes an effective follower?
Effective followers are well-balanced and responsible adults who can succeed without strong leadership. Many followers believe they offer as much value to the organization as leaders do, especially in project or task-force situations.
What does effective followership mean?
Effective followership appears when individuals are proactively engaged with duties or assignments and meaningfully contribute through independent, critical thinking. Good, skilled followers are self-reliant, active participants who push forward ideas in support of a vision or in service to a cause.
How are leaders and followers similar?
Followers and leaders show courage by communicating openly, taking action when needed and holding themselves accountable for modeling the behaviors they expect of others. Followers and leaders alike develop by learning to read people and understanding what motivates them.
Do followers make a difference in whether a leader is effective?
Yes, followers can make a difference in whether a leader is effective. Their ability to support the leader helps move the organization forward. A good follower keeps the leader in line and makes sure that they are performing their duties accordingly. In addition, a follower knows the market well and understands people.
Do followers make a difference in whether a leader is effective discuss?
What is the meaning of leadership and followership?
Leadership is the process of guiding and directing the behavior of followers in organizations. Followership is the process of being guided and directed by a leader. Leaders and followers are companions in these processes.
What is the role of followers in leadership?
Followers are the crucial other half of the leadership influence process. Followers are at the very heart of what makes leadership so challenging. Systems, structures and policies are in comparison, more easily changed than the reluctant and resistant hearts of men. Granted, not every follower is an effective one.
Effective followers are those who complement the leader, collaborating with them in their leadership journey to achieve organisational goals. Put simply, the kind of followers implied by the term ‘follow’, the individuals who are just there to be led – are not effective followers.
What are the qualities of a good leader?
Good leadership needs good followership – followers who are not sheep, not simply yes-people, and not detached from the organisation’s broader goals and visions. Rather, good followers are those who are the active, engaged, independent and critical thinkers that form an essential part of any leadership success story.
What drives sheep to follow their leader?
These followers comply with the leader’s directions to the letter, but often require external motivators in order to perform their duties. Sheep followers are driven by threats of punishment and the promise of reward in fulfilling their roles. This might interest you: Is Meek Leadership A Formula For Making History?