Followership

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• Followership

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Chapter Objectives

• Recognize your followership style and take steps
  to become a more effective follower.
• Understand the leaders role in developing
  effective followers.
• Apply the principles of effective followership,
  including responsibility, service, challenging
  authority, participating in change, and knowing
  when to leave.
• Implement the strategies for effective
  followership at school or work.
• Know what followers want and contribute to
  building a community among followers.

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Basic function of Leadership

• The function of leadership is to produce more
  leaders, not more followers.
• Ralph Nader

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• A platoon leader doesnt get his platoon to go
  by getting up and shouting and saying I am
  smarter. I am bigger. I am stronger. I am the
  leader. He gets men to go along with him
  because they want to do it for him and they
  believe in him.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower

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LEADERSHIP ACTIONS

• All over this country, corporations and
  government agencies, there are millions of
  executives who imagine that their place on the
  organizational chart has given them a body of
  followers. And of course it hasnt. It has
  given them subordinates. Whether subordinates
  become followers depends on whether the
  executives act like leaders.
• John Gardner

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Ex. 7.1 Followership Styles
Independent, critical thinking
Alienated
Effective
Pragmatic Survivor
Passive
Active
Passive
Conformist
Dependent, uncritical thinking
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Critical and Uncritical Thinking

• Critical Thinking
• Thinking independently and being mindful of the
  effects of ones own and other peoples behavior
  on achieving the organizations vision.
• Uncritical Thinking
• Failing to consider possibilities beyond what one
  is told accepting the leaders ideas without
  thinking.

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Passive or Active Behavior

• Passive Behavior
• Uninvolved
• Needs constant supervision
• Avoids responsibility
• Active Behavior
• Fully engaged
• Demonstrates a sense of ownership
• Problem solver
• Involved in decision making

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Kelleys 5 Powers of Followership

• Alienated
• Passive, yet independent
• Critical, independent thinkers
• Focus on shortcomings of organization and leaders
• Conformist
• Participates actively but does not use critical
  thinking skills
• Participates willingly without thought to
  consequences
• Avoids conflict

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Kelleys Power of Followership

• Passive Follower
• Is not a critical or independent thinker
• Is not active in participation
• Do what they are told to do
• Effective Follower
• Independent and critical thinker
• Active in the organization
• Does not avoid risk or conflict
• Acts willingly
• Capable of self-management

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Kelleys Power of Followership

• Pragmatic survivor
• Has qualities of all four extremes
• Uses what benefits his/her position
• Political
• Avoids Risk

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Demands on an Effective Follower

• Have to be willing to express their ideas and
  what they stand for
• Courage to assume responsibility
• Courage to serve
• Courage to challenge
• Courage to participate in transformation
• Courage to leave

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Meilingers Ten Rules of Followership

• 1. Dont blame your boss for an unpopular
  decision or policy your job is to support, not
  undermine.
• 2. Fight with your boss if necessary but do it
  in private, avoid embarrassing situations, and
  never reveal to others what was discussed.
• 3. Make the decision, then run it past the boss
  use your initiative.
• 4. Accept responsibility whenever it is offered.
• 5. Tell the truth and dont quibble your boss
  will be giving
• advice up the chain of command based on
  what you said.
• 6. Do your homework give your boss all the
  information needed to make a decision anticipate
  possible questions.

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Meilingers Ten Rules of Followership

• 7. When making a recommendation, remember who
  will probably have to implement it. This means
  you must know your own limitations and weaknesses
  as well as your strengths.
• 8. Keep your boss informed of whats going on in
  the
• unit people will be reluctant to tell him or
  her their problems and successes. You should do
  it for them, and assume someone else will tell
  the boss about yours.
• 9. If you see a problem, fix it. Dont worry
  about who would have gotten the blame or who now
  gets the praise.
• 10. Put in more than an honest days work, but
  dont ever
• forget the needs of your family. If they are
  unhappy, you will be too, and your job
  performance will suffer accordingly.

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Ex. 7.2 The Maturity Continuum
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Sharpen the Saw
Interdependence
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Seek First to Understand Then to be Understood
Synergize
PUBLIC VICTORY
Think win-win
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Independence
Put First Things First
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PRIVATE VICTORY
Begin with the End in Mind
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Be Proactive
Dependence
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Sources of Follower Power

• Personal Sources
• Knowledge
• Expertise
• Effort
• Persuasion
• Position Sources
• Location
• Information
• Access

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Ex. 7.3 Ways to Influence Your Leader
Help the Leader Be a Good Leader Ask for
advice. Tell leader what you think. Find things
to thank leader for.
Be a Resource for the Leader Determine the
leaders needs. Zig where the leader zags. Tell
leader about you. Align self to team
purpose/vision.
Build a Relationship Ask about leader at your
level/position. Welcome feedback and
criticism. Ask leader to tell you company
stories.
View the Leader Realistically Give up idealized
leader images. Dont hide anything. Dont
criticize leader to others. Disagree occasionally.
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Ex. 7.4 Rank Order of Desirable Characteristics

• Desirable Leaders Are
• Honest
• Forward thinking
• Inspiring
• Competent

• Desirable Colleagues (Followers) Are
• Honest
• Cooperative
• Dependable
• Competent

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Ex. 7.5 The Feedback Process

• Observation
• Follower misses deadlines repeatedly.

• Development
• Follower given training in self-management, team
  allocated work based on personal skills.

• Assessment
• Follower lacks self-management skills.

• Consequences
• Team members resent delays to team projects.

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Optimizing Feedback

• Make regular feedback a habit
• Use elements of storytelling
• Being generous with positive feedback
• Train followers to view feedback as an
  opportunity for development

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Dialogue
A type of communication in which each person
suspends his attachment to a particular viewpoint
so that a deeper level of listening, synthesis,
and meaning evolves from the whole community
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Leading Others to Lead Themselves

• Strive toward collaborative relationships
• Self-management leadership
• Share power and responsibility
• Coach and mentor
• Offer encouragement
• Remove barriers
• Provide constructive feedback
• Empower followers

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Communities of Practice
Made up of individuals who are informally bound
to one another through exposure to a similar set
of problems and a common pursuit of solutions
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6 Practices of Communities

• Building proper Foundation of team
• Inclusivity
• Positive culture
• Conversation
• Caring and Trust
• Shared Leadership

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END !