Term Paper on "Follower's Impact on Leadership"

Term Paper 4 pages (1088 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

leadership is a much studied and respected concept in business, the essential component to progress in companies is the highly understudied and undervalued concept of "followership." Without motivated, informed, and committed followers, leaders sacrifice productivity and effort. A good leader must carefully consider how he or she incorporates the needs and contributions of the people who are his or her followers. The authors of the article A Fresh Look at Followership: A Model for Matching Followership and Leadership Styles make several concrete suggestions for leaders who want to maximize their followers' contributions. Among these suggestions are understanding the motivations and values of followers, considering effective vs. ineffective followers, and examining models that address the styles of leaders and followers.

Followership may be defined as the ability to effectively follow the directives and support the efforts of a leader to maximize a structured organization" (Bjugstad et al., 2006, p. 304). While leaders and leadership has been much touted, the success of a leader and an organization really does depend on the actions and attitudes of the organization's followers. Followers are essentially the workhorses of the organization. In recent years, workplace changes such as increased and easily available information, empowerment of workers, and distrust of leaders as a result of scandals like Enron have made the role of followers more important and interesting than ever. What, then, does a leader need to know about the motivations of his or her followers? "A follower's motivation is a function of environmental and internal factors. To increase follower motivation, a company needs to create a results-oriented environment with genuine concern for its followers and provide performance-related feedback" (Bjugstad et al., 2006, p. 306). The internal part of the equation is how valued and trusted the follower feels. The leader must understand this internal motivation of the followers in order to foster the greatest possible relationship for the good of the company. Communication is a valuable asset in such a case. "When a leader communicates trust and respect for followers' abilities to perform and achieve, the internal motivation of the followers takes over and drives them to succeed" (Bjugstad et al., 2006, p. 306). It certainly helps when a leader and follower have personalities that connect and value sets that match, but tapping into a motivation that already exists by communicating trust is the key for a strong leader.

What does a leader need to know about what makes an effective and an ineffective follower? A good leader must recognize four truths about effective followers. They manage themselves well, they show commitment to the organization, they continue to become more competent and focus, and they demonstrate courage, honesty, and credibility. A leader must understand that a strong follower may not always agree with him or her. In fact, it is a positive attribute of a good follower that he or she may speak up and disagree with the leader when the good of the organization is at stake. The effect on a leader is that the leader must learn to "respect followers who will speak up and share their points-of-view rather than withhold information" (Bjugstad et al., 2006, p. 308). Rather than following a leader blindly over a cliff, a good follower would point out the error of… READ MORE

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