Week 3: Followership

Ever since leadership became a large part of my life, followership has been part as well. I am not a natural leader . . . I had to work on developing my skills and being comfortable being seen as a leader. Being a "follower" has situated me better, but not as a passive follower (Smyth). I believe that I have been more of an active or proactive follower (Smyth). I think that part of the reasons I believe I am better as a follower depends on the situation and how knowledgeable I am. I would hope this is the same for a lot of leaders, but I know there are stories in which someone who is "drunk" on power cannot realize that there is someone in a group that has more knowledge about a situation and is willing to step down.

At the 2004 ACPA Convention I presented a session on followership, specifically the Robert Kelley's theory. I have to admit that this was the first time that I learned more about followership and that it is more than being a follower. Throughout the readings for this week, I kept thinking about the qualities that create effective followers (Kelley) and qualities of strong leaders. They are initially the same, which is what many of the authors discussed as well. There are two key differences between being the leader and being an effective follower: (1) wanting to be a leader or not and (2) willingness to step back and allow someone to take the reins.

I personally consider followers to be leaders . . . they just serve a different role. Potter, Rosenbach, and Pittman discussed the concept of a leader-follower partnership. This is seems to be the ideal relationship to accomplish goals. Granted, Potter et al. discussed how the different styles of followers would work better in different situations (Contributor, Subordinate, Politician, Partner).

While reading for this week, I kept thinking about my own experiences as a leader and as a follower. I wonder how my supervisors (current and past) would describe my style of followership. Would I be seen as a partner, or more of a contributor?

For those of you reading, what do you think about when the term "follower" or "followership" is discussed? Do you think of someone who is simply a "yes" person or someone who is more of a partner?