Leading your followers - Understanding your ABC's

Some of the individuals reading these articles may have followers under their leadership. We cannot assume that all followers are at a the "bottom" of an organizational chart. The chances are likely that most reading these posts do have some authority over other individuals. It is for this reason that we can not just talk about the role of our followership responsibilities, but also how to build up and develop our followers.

Followership development is crucial to the success and survival of an organization. It involves, education, encouragement, empowering, and enabling the follower to do better. Robert Townsend says it best when he states, “True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers not the enrichment of the leaders.” Leadership is about drawing individuals together to get the tasks accomplished which support the organizational mission. It is not about position or power. With that position and power comes great responsibility. The responsibility to care for those under your direction and build them up.

I once had a professor who was a department chair at a major university. When he hired new faculty, he would tell them, "Okay, life is no longer about you; your students are number one now." I think the same can be applied to leaders as well. When one gets in a position of leadership, the tendency is to lead over them instead of lead under them and serve the follower. This hierarchical struggle often leads to difficult periods within the organization where people who are truly vested in the organization feel left out, not heard, or hurt. Leaders come along side and try to build up individuals to be a colleague at their level. The threat that is involved with having another individual know what you know and do what you do is what keeps followers at a distance and disabled from their full potential.

This point is laid out clearly in an article entitled, "A's Hire A's -- and B's Hire C's" by: Phillip E. Rosner, Ph.D.. An A leader is not afraid to hire someone that is at his or her level, but a B leader hires C and D level because they are afraid of competition and hiring someone better than him or herself. This is a big difficulty in followership development principles. A majority of those in leadership are B leaders, according to research. This tendency makes little room for developing followers.

But what about you? The first step is to determine whether you are an A, B, or C employee and where you fit in with what the article mentions. Even if you are not an A leader, you do not have anything to worry about if you are improving efficiency and effectiveness within your department or area of responsibility. So how can you develop your followers?

This diagram illustrates what it looks like to go from a "sheep" to an effective follower:

This is where we in leadership positions need to take our followers. This is done by education, encouragement, empowerment, and enabling them to do more than their job description. It is about serving them and looking to their needs instead of your own needs. Work together as partners teaming together to fulfill the mission of the organization. Always remember that it is not about you...your followers are your new priority. Know your ABC's and where you fit into the spectrum so that you can get over any anxieties you may have about your followers overpowering you. Do not live in fear, but live by serving others. Your fears will disappear if you are serving those under your umbrella of authority.

Knowing your leader inside and out

Knowing and understanding what motivates your leader is a great way to manage from the bottom up. Remember from previous articles not to disproportion the roles of leaders mentally, but to treat them as a partner, working towards the same mission and goal. You are all striving for efficiency and effectiveness within the organization and when you can understand what makes them tick, you can aide your leader in being the best leader he or she can be. Here are some tactics to manage up as a follower, because how followers manage their leaders is just as important as how their leaders manage them:

Be a resource for the leader:

• Determine the leader’s needs
• Zig where the leader zags
• Tell leader about you
• Align self to team purpose/vision

Help the leader be a GOOD leader:

• Ask for Advice
• Tell leader what you think
• Find things to thank leader for

Build a relationship:

• Ask about what the leader was like at your level/position
• Welcome feedback and criticism. Ask questions like, "What experiences led you to that decision?"
• Ask leader to tell you company stories

View the leader realistically:

• Give up idealized leader expectations
• Don’t hide anything
• Don’t criticize leader to others
• Disagree occasionally

If you follow these simple techniques in managing-up, you will see improvements in your leader/follower relationship and you will get to know what makes your leader light-up and become the leader he was originally hired to be.Effective followers transform their leader-follower relationship by striving to improve their leaders rather than just criticizing them.

Knowing your Maturity Level

When your leader is trained in organizational behavior, they are taught to look for a follower's maturity level and their willingness to perform their tasks. I believe that it is equally important to train followers to know their skill and will quotient as well. Don't you? Learning where you fall into the spectrum of maturity will better help you to become an effective follower. Are you ready to learn?


The following diagram shows various stages of a follower’s readiness/Maturity Level based on their skill and will:


The four stages of follower readiness according to Hersey & Blanchard, who are the textbook writers of Organizational Behavior are as follows:

• People who are both unable and either unwilling or too insecure to take responsibility to do something. They are neither competent nor confident. (M1)
• People who are having less skill level, but willing to do necessary job task falls into this M2 category. They are motivated but currently lack of the appropriate skills.(M2)
• People who are able but unwilling or too apprehensive to do what the leader wants (M3)
• People who are both able and willing to take responsibility and do what is asked of them (M4)

Where do you fall into this spectrum? Once you understand this, you can also see where your leader is coming from. There are four leadership styles that you will see your leader using. They are:

1. Telling/Directing Leader — a leader provides detailed instruction and closely coaches the follower.

2. Selling/Coaching Leader — a leader provides explanations and principles, engages the follower in a discussion of the work, and coaches as needed.

3. Facilitating/Counseling Leader — the leader assists the follower with goal clarification and ideas, then coaches as needed

4. Delegating Leader — the goal is clarified and the work turned over to the follower.

Now, put these two concepts together and you will see how your leader responds to you. What areas do you think you need to show improvement on? Do you need to improve your skill or your will more? Here is how these two come together:

• At stage M1, followers need clear and specific directions. The appropriate style that your leader will choose is high-task and low-relationship or Telling/Directing (S1).
• At stage M2, both high-task and high-relationship behavior is needed by your leader, otherwise known as Selling/Coaching (S2). The high-task behavior compensates for the follower’s lack of ability, and the high-relationship behavior tries to get the followers psychologically to “buy into” the leader’s desires.
• Stage M3 represents motivational problems that are best solved by a supportive, non-directive, participative style. The approach your leader would choose would be low-task and high-relationship or Facilitating/Counseling (S3).
• At stage M4, your leader does not have to do much because these followers are both willing and able to do the job and take responsibility. The followers need neither task directions nor motivational support, thus low-task and low-relationship style or Delegating (S4) work best for this kind of subordinates.

Try to work on becoming an M4 follower in your maturity level. You will see your leader start to delegate more responsibility to you. This will improve your effectiveness and efficiency right where you are at improving not only yourself, but the organization you serve. you will also receive the significance that you deserve because you are using your experience and maturity to complete your task.

Serve your leader...

Build up your leader today. Have you ever thought that your leader needs encouragement too and it is not just their responsibility to give you praise all the time, but you are able to give them praise too. Find an area that you feel you are lacking in receiving affirmation and affirm your leader in those areas. You are probably not being encouraged in those areas because your leader is not being encouraged by their leader in those areas. Start encouraging them and see how long it takes for you to receive compliments back to you. Everyone needs a little bit of encouragement. Take the initiative to do it today to those whom you serve.

Know when to walk away...

We could heed some advice, as effective followers, from the writings of Kenny Rogers in his song entitled, The Gambler". The main chorus states,

"You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done."

We have to hold onto these principles as effective followers as well. There is a time to hold onto your job and a time to end it; a time to transition out of your job slowly and deciding to leave quicker than later. Knowing these tactics takes perception and judgement. There is a time when discomfort comes into our current work situation where we need to evaluate what is truly going on with this situation. A variety of issues could be at hand. Let's discuss some of them to give weight to this crucial topic:

1. Organizational Dysfunction
This is an area that has to be sorted out individually to see what the impact is going to be upon you as an effective follower. As stated in other articles, effective followers can help an organization transition through the difficult dysfunction that comes with change. This is when the effective follower can step up to the plate and offer themselves fully to the mission of the organization. The leaders need followers who are willing to stand by them at any cost. With that being said, there are also organizations that are truly disorganized and dysfunctional. The effective follower knows when his efforts are not being responded to and the organization drags the individual down further into complacency. This stage is where a lot of followers find themselves, in an alienated follower role. This is where someone has been injured by the organization and they become cynical, with a "see, I told you so" mentality. A good leader will recognize when a follower has switched to this mentality and will try to revive them back to their full capacity. It is not long before that person ends up a yes person or a sheep within the organization. This is not a healthy place to be. If you are effective in your followership role, you will recognize that something is not healthy about the organization and will seek other employment. If it is something that you feel you have time to look for other employment, do so, but also know when to run.

2. Unethical Organizations
We have all heard about these in the news lately and perhaps some of us have worked for organizations that we thought were unethical. If we find ourselves in this type of environment, the best thing to do is to get out as soon as possible. This atmosphere is implosive and can cause many to fall victim to the immorality within the walls of the organization. do not even think about leaving...run. I had to do this for an organization I worked for about 10 years back and I never regretted the decision. I had to find temporary work for awhile, but God provided because of my obedience to truth.

3. Over-qualification
Are you overqualified for your position? Many who hold their current positions are. Effective followers can sometimes get over this fact as they are enabled by their leader to do task outside of their normal work load. But in most organizations, job dissatisfaction runs high amongst employees. This is due to a lack of stimulation with a certain task but also it can come by critically thinking about your current task and discovering an innovative way to complete your task, but then being told by your supervisor, "That is not how we do it here." Even the strongest research can not break some organizations of their sacred cows. Have you ever read the book, "Sacred cows make the best burgers"? This controversial book has a great premise. There are cows wandering around the street that we call sacred, but yet the people around are starving. The only way for us to survive is to make burgers. If an organization is holding onto the way things used to be and not being innovative, but you as an effective follower can not help being innovative, then it may be time for you to look for employment that is looking for innovation. This is an over-qualification. Critical thinking skills differ within an organization. You could have reactive, verses critical, thinkers managing or running organizations. This organization will not last long with a lack of innovation. Know when to walk away and know when to run.

4. Loss of Integrity
An effective follower would generally not get themselves into situations where they loose their integrity, but occasionally it happens. It is better for an individual to step away from that organization when they have fallen rather than face the constant judgements from the organization's members for the remainder of their time with the organization. Reputations carry on within organizations and the gossip of employees does not cease even though the issue resolves itself. It is difficult to be an effective follower when your reputation has been scarred. God is a God of grace and offers forgiveness to those who are able to cry out to Him, but mankind generally is not, sad but true.

Don't count your money when you are sitting at the table. There will be time enough when you are gone. In other words, an effective follower stays actively engaged to their task while they are employed with the organization. There are exiting signs that leaders look for from their employees. Some signs are obvious, such as increased personal phone calls, closed office doors and increased sick days. An employee looking to leave the organization may mentally check out. They will suddenly become passive and mute at staff meetings. Conversely, a normally quiet employee who turns into a chatter box may feel he or she has nothing to lose. There is time to make personal calls and search for another job on your personal time. Do not jeopardize your integrity by bringing your exiting signs to the workplace. There is time enough to do that when your work is done.

Leaving is not easy, especially in today's economy, but know when it is right for you so you can remain an effective follower in whatever task you are given.

Back to work...

These are the words that we dread hearing from our supervisor or someone higher in authority than us. This is another fear to acknowledge in being an effective follower. We need to utilize our time wisely while we are at work. how many of us feel overwhelmed at work and that there is not enough time in the day to complete our tasks? We feel overwhelmed and burdened, feeling like we are never going to get unburied from our tasks. How much of our day are we giving to the task and how much are we claiming as a right for ourselves. We often claim, "If I don't check my facebook every two hours, I will be more stressed out", or "I need to have my breaks, just like those that smoke need to go out and take a break every half hour." We need to get back in check with our followership intentions. We claim rights that we don't have and take advantage of the ones that we are given. If this article offends you, it may be because there is something out of balance in your followership trends.

The first step would be to eliminate personal time from our 8 + hours of scheduled time. Sure, we all need breaks and we are given our break time and lunch time. Use them wisely. Use them to write your personal emails, make personal cell phone calls, check out facebook, and the like if you are able to on company property, if not, wait until you get home. If we can put our time only into our objectives of the day, we will bring much more efficiency and effectiveness to our job. This is how we can show others our effectiveness as followers. Not only that, but we can get to tap into some of the other benefits of the organization as well. If we have truly completed our tasks for the day, earlier than when we had anticipated, and there is nothing else to do, we have the privilege of going to our boss and saying, "I am finished with the tasks that I have today, can you recommend where I can get ahead in other areas?" or "Are there any projects you need help on that I can assist with as my work is completed?" This is how we get brought into special projects and gain experience outside of our service area. To have some project management experience or assisting with development is a nice added bonus to our work day. It can help us to feel significant where we are trained outside of our day-to-day knowledge base, as well as finishing our tasks efficiently. When we can do our task efficiently and effectively, our leaders will see the potential in us to do more. That may be the added push that is needed to get us where we want to end up. So, if you are reading this during your workday and it is not on a designated break...back to work! Be an effective follower.

Second, if we are truly putting all of our work time into the tasks and we are still overwhelmed, we need to ask for help. This is often something that is very hard to do for anyone. To say that we are unable to complete the tasks that are given to us, we feel as though we are truly not effective, when in fact, we are really trying our hardest. Asking for help is the next step in letting someone know that the workload is too much for you. They may not know this to be the case or maybe they just have not heard you complain so they are not looking in your direction. Too much responsibility can sometimes be the burden that a lot of effective followers feel because you are seen as someone who can get the work done productively and critically. Leaders like this and can unknowingly take advantage of a worker. Just take a chance and let them know what you are going through. You may get a response you were not expecting...this will help you get back to work as an effective and efficient follower of the organization.

Following without fear...but with reverence.

One of the things that paralyses most followers is fear. Fear is a powerful thing. Recently, I had someone tell me that they did not feel significant where they were working. This is a fear that will disable your effectiveness as a follower. There are some steps that need to occur to acknowledge and overcome these fears. Examine these seven steps to overcoming fear in your followership role and start being an effective follower again.

1. Acknowledge there is a problem

Take a look at your attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs to evaluate where you are. Then, go further to find out the fears that prescribe each of them. These fears are a driving force in how we live. After you have acknowledged that the fears exist, it will be easier for you to look at them in your decision making process.

2. Ask for help

The easiest way to overcome anything is by accountability. Having another hold you accountable for your actions and question you on your actions, attitudes, and beliefs, makes anyone stronger. These trusted friends or loved ones can help you to identify fears and then recognize the signs once they appear. I would not recommend a co-worker on this matter as it is best to avoid office gossip if one of your fears is your direct superior. Find a follower buddy. On the other hand, if you really trust your supervisor to help you in this area, make sure that it will not hinder your current situation and approach them humbly for help. There are so many resources out there to help you with overcoming fear. You may need to go to the next level of pastoral counseling or psychotherapy if it is needed.

3. Decide what really matters

What do you really care about in your job or in your life outside of the office? If you had a perfect vision of what life would be like, how could you take those elements and apply them to your followership role where you are at? It is easy at this point to make excuses for why you do not have this "ideal" world, but you can begin to make decisions that help lead you towards that goal. You may just have to find something that is significant in your life that represents what that ideal life looks, feels, smells, tastes, and sounds like. C.S. Lewis once said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." You can overcome the fear of not getting where you think you need to be to be happy, by acknowledging that this earth cannot satisfy our desires. This helps feed our effective followership.

4. Establish your followership goals

Establishing your followership goals helps lead you to being an effective follower. Look at where you are now and compare it to where you want to be. How far out of line with your goals are you? What do you need to do to get back on course? if you feel that you have "jumped ship" from your original course, how do you get back on that ship. Moreover, how do you serve, right where you are at, in an effective way to get you closer to those dreams. What if this is not where you need to be to establish those dreams? The next step is to do an audit to see what you need to do to get you from where you are now and where you want to be. Take bold steps if necessary.

5. Make a decision that will eliminate fear

To eliminate fear is not an easy task. It takes a bold, foundational, and life-altering move that is both mental and physical, but also spiritual. This includes all aspects of who you are. Somethings in life are not an option; you have deep seeded foundational worldviews that need to be explored. For example, if you have a boss or coworker that you do not like, you do not debate the matter, "Should I talk with the person or do I just murder them?" It is not an option, you already have it established in your mind that murder is wrong. Fear has to have the same strength behind it that you can not be fearful in your decision making. Fear can not dominate who you are. If it has dominated you, you need to make a real life decision to leave what is not real (fear) even though it has become very familiar to and comfortable for you.

6. Challenge the irrational fears

Who told you that you were worthless? Who said if you share with your supervisor what is really on your mind that you will lose your job? These irrational fears that you are living with have been accepted by you in the past and have become a reality, or truth, that you live each day. These irrational fears need to be challenged because they impact and direct every choice that you make. These fears will not go anywhere unless you challenge them.

7. Just do it

Action plans and a timeline are all that stand between your sheepish followership and effective followership. If you have dreams of getting to a corner office (or even an office with a window) someday, what are you doing to get there? Are you being effective where you are at? Do you need more education? What things are standing in your way of making this happen? Make the decision today to live without fear in your followership role. Do not listen to those voices telling you that you are not worthy. Establish an action plan and lay out a timeline to make this happen.

Sometimes we mistake living without fear for having also a lack of reverence. Reverence is an important thing to remember when we are being a courageous follower. We are in the place we are today because of the choices we made yesterday. We need to respect that, but then make choices to take us to where we feel we are led. Having a reverence for our position humbles us to enjoy the benefits we have to being in the very place we are right now and also enables us to look beyond this point towards a bright future without fear.

Temporary "Blahs"

Let's face it, not every technique and personal enrichment seminar is going to take away the 'blahs' that are sometimes just a part of the job. When we are followers, we are all going to have days that just do not seem to go right for us. When these type of days come, there is not much that we can do to avoid feeling down. This is when we just have to look to what things there are that we can be thankful for. Look at the things that your job has to offer you that are a benefit to the here and now, such as: a steady paycheck, benefits, a place to learn and build your skill sets so you'll always be employable, or the opportunity to build professional friendships that could help in the future. This may brighten your day and help you through those days where no advice can help you through the temporary "blahs".

Wounded but not broken

"Trust and betrayal, connected like Siamese twins, they give the other meaning; one ends where one begins." - Bob Bennett

Pondering these lyrics, have you ever felt betrayed at work by your leaders? Have they in some small way (or maybe in a major way) let down your expectations of them? Remember, all leaders are fallible, just like we are. You know what trust looks like because you know what betrayal feel like. Probably most of the readers of this article have felt betrayal in one form or another from their leaders. Logically, they know what to look for in trusting their leaders as well. This trust is an important dynamic when it comes to leader/follower relationships. Once this trust is broken, is the relationship done? Everyone can agree that it definitely makes the road to reconciliation more difficult. It is tough to serve a leader who lacks the perceived integrity needed to lead. We all desire to have leaders that have integrity and seek to build us up in our positions. The reality is that does not occur as often as it should.

Despite integrity issues, we as followers have to show our integrity in handling situations. It is so easy to slander another's reputation or gossip about our leaders behind their backs, but it takes the courage of an effective follower to stand up and "kill them with kindness". This kindness is not just a submission and silence; that would describe a "yes person" or an "alienated follower" role. Instead, I am talking about trying to build up your leader's integrity by publicly and privately supporting them, even though you know they made a poor decision in the past or have betrayed you in some way. To look beyond the moment of indiscretion and not let them affect your work performance or integrity is the challenge to being an effective follower. Daft states, "Effective followers transform their leader-follower relationship by striving to improve their leaders rather than just criticizing them." When was the last time that you tried to improve your leader?

As mentioned in other articles, we can not change an entire organizations frame of mind overnight, but we can change ours in an instant. In John G Miller's book, QBQ (or Question Behind the Question), he turns the corner on our criticism by turning the question back on ourselves. Instead of saying, "Why can't my leader get their act together?" he directs us to inquire instead, "What can I do to help my leader improve?" This is where we as effective followers need to be. I heard some good advice from a friend not too long back that the things that we desire most from our leaders that they are not giving us is the same things that they are not receiving from their superior. Let me say it another way. If you are lacking encouragement from your boss, it is probably because they are not getting any encouragement from their boss. They quick way to change this trend is to feed them what they need. This changes your relationship over time and feeds your leader so they can feed you. This is called "leading through following." Build up your leaders publicly and privately, encourage them in their tasks, ask them what you can do to make their job easier, and support them, even though they may have hurt you. If the logic flows with this concept, you were probably hurt by your leader because they were hurt from theirs. So pursue reconciliation through service and support. This is the key to being an effective follower.

Game Of Life

Along the road of life, we can often loose our feeling of significance with the work that we do. What has changed? It seems that we are only looking for that next pay check and can spouting the acronym that everyone knows and often mutters, "TGIF"! Do you remember the first day on the job where you thought that there was no better place for you to be than right here at this moment? Where is that enthusiasm now?

As we discussed in previous articles, it is easy to slip into the roles of sheep, "yes people", alienated followers, or survivors. Why is this? What makes this a leading epidemic sweeping through organizations worldwide? I believe that it is the concept of significance.

Significance, as I would define it, would be, "The feeling or distinction of being of importance". Do you feel important? Or better yet, are you important to the organization? These questions run through the minds of millions of employees going to work every single day. Let's break these concepts down into both feelings and distinction.

Feeling significant can take on a whole magnitude of directions when researching such a field. A theoretical area that exists on this topic is called "self-efficacy" or in other words it is a belief that one has the capabilities to manage situations effectively. A question that I like to ask individuals who do not feel significant within an organization is, "Who told you in life that you were not good enough?" This can spark an emotional response in some individuals. Believe me, I have felt this way too in the past and my wife has to remind me that I am capable enough to complete a task and I should stop doubting myself. I can see the power that 'doubt' can play in a person's life and in the role of followership. Doubt can remove all confidence from a person slowly over time, especially when they are not being built up within their organization they serve, day in and day out. Doubt can take the smartest individual and cause him or her to wrestle with simple tasks or what should be uncomplicated decisions. The importance of "feeling significant" is an area that we will touch on much more in other articles.

Do you feel important to the organization? This is the role of distinction. Can the office work better without me? Am I just taking up space here? I never get a 'thank you' for my efforts here. These are statements of distinction-based forms of significance. This is an area that comes when little development is put into an individual or a building up of that person's efforts. This differs from the feeling of self-efficacy in that it is an external motivator, verses the inward, intrinsic pressure one feels inside. The distinction area of significance looks at ways in which individuals perceive themselves 'fitting' into their current situation. This 'fitting' is a significance factor that can be uplifted more with words of affirmation, symbols of celebration, and 'pats on the back' which can come in the forms of money, rewards, time-off, projects with more responsibility, etc. If you are truly an effective follower and you still are not feeling important to your organization, your organization needs to look at ways to make you feel more important. If you are lacking the skills to be an effective follower, this may be a way to increase both the distinction as well as the feeling, or self-efficacy.

Along the road of life, different outside forces affect the way we perform within the organization we serve. It is vital that we stop and examine ourselves to see if we truly are being effective followers within our organization. If we find that we are meeting the expectations of what it means to be an effective follower, it may be time to challenge our leadership or know when to leave the organization. If an organization draining of your leadership skills within your followership role, the most probable solution may be to find an organization who will invest in your skills and abilities. More will follow in subsequent articles, however, we can not let doubt, fear, and role distinction matters to affect every aspect of our lives. The game of life demands that we give our all where we are at, it is not just a roll of a dice or a spin of a wheel that determines our next move. Knowing that we are important and working on improving our skills may be a means that God uses to move us out of our comfort zone and to a new venue in life.

Experience Integrated

One way as a follower to show your leadership qualities within your organization, right where you are at, is to bring your experience to the table. This is called understanding our experiential learning method and knowing how to position ourselves within the organization to learn and grow from the environment around us. Some individuals do it be observing and others by experimentation. Others need to think through an idea and others need to experience it. This is called experiential learning.

John Dewey, in his 1938 book "Experience and Education", denotes that there is continuity to the experience which builds upon our learning with each moment. He states, “As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expands or contracts” (Kolb, 1984, p.44). Dewey (1938) is signifying each experience as what molds an individual’s consciousness. He continues, “He does not find himself living in another world but in a different part or aspect of one and the same world” (Ibid). This shows the significance of each moment in shaping the world in which one lives. This “expanding” and “contracting” that Dewey (1938) speaks of is the very premise that forms Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning model. Dewey (1938) further notes, “What he has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follows. The process goes on as life and learning continues” (Ibid).

William James (1890) previously made this observation in his studies on the human consciousness and its nature. He looked at how the conscious was continuous and that it was constantly being built upon. He would ask such questions, as Kolb (1984) illustrates, that inquire, “How is it…that I awake in the morning with the same consciousness, the same thoughts, feelings, memories, and senses of who I am that I went to sleep with the night before” (Kolb, 1984, p. 27)? We are always building onto our experience base.

We, as followers, need to always be learning within the organization and then applying our knowledge gained to our task at hand. We need to understand our learning style and find out how to diversify it to grow even further. Once you are able to understand the learning style of those around you, especially your leaders, you will be able to communicate your point more clearly in a way that they can understand, allowing you to stand up for the mission and vision of the organization, thus, being an effective follower.

Followership Efficacy

How does one know if he or she is an effective follower? Is there a scale to show how well one is doing in following their leader? These questions have to surface in order to know what a follower truly is. There are four patterns within the followership realm in which individuals find themselves. This chart will explain this in greater detail. You will see the four quadrants listed as: yes people, sheep, alienated followers, and effective followers. You will also see a title in the middle called survivors. We will touch on each of these items in this article.


Do you know a "yes person"? Would you know what to look for when this title is said? This is an easy pattern to fall into within followership. You can see from the outside labels that this person is active within the organization, but they are a dependent, uncritical thinker. The tendencies of this person is specific to this title. They appear livelier when they are in the midst of their leaders, but quickly fall back into complacency when they are alone in their task. Subsequently, they are equally unenterprising. They are not seeking out new ideas or new challenges. This individual depends on the leader for their inspiration as a result and can sometimes be aggressively differential when it comes to new ideas. Some leaders like them because they nod and smile and are quick to form alliances with them. This causes major inefficiencies within the organization. This individual, however, has much potential to be an effective follower if they can learn to speak up and think for themselves.


Like the yes people, there are the "sheep". We can see from the chart that they are passive individuals within the organization as well as dependant and uncritical. This combination can be detrimental to an organization but some bright individuals sneak by in larger organizations and actually aid an organization by just doing a task. However, this person is seeking to serve him or herself only, not looking out for the welfare of others or the organization. These individuals lack initiative as well as a sense of responsibility to the organization. This often happens to a person who is in their position for a short period of time or they have been hurt so much by the organization that all they are to them is a paycheck. The "sheep" find themselves performing their required task and then stopping. This follower has not been developed and is causing a gap in the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Perhaps the organization is causing a gap in the efficiency and effectiveness of this individual. Either way, they can still be rescued.


As with the "sheep", the alienated follower is one who came into the organization with full intents on making the organization a better place to work and was full of ideas to create a more efficient and effective workplace. They have perhaps been wounded by the organization and still have great ideas, but they do not feel confident enough to voice their opinion. It may be that they do not feel their voice will be heard at all. They tend to make small changes in the areas around them and to others with similar tasks, but they are not focused on helping their leader due to the hurt caused to them, alienating them to just their task. These individuals are independent critical thinkers, but they have now become passive. These individuals can appear to be cynical but they perform with a disgruntled submission. They try to cover up their bitterness and the hurt caused to them with humor or intellect. An interesting trait about these followers is that they seldom actively oppose or speak up to their leaders even if they know something will go wrong in the process. This person delights in watching a leader fall, only to say, "I told you so" in their mind. This individual has much potential for growth, but has not had the development he needs to be a good follower.


Then we see the effective followers. these individuals perform with energy and assertiveness towards their task and the mission of the organization. They are critical independent thinkers who are not afraid to take risks or solve problems on their own. They proactively challenge the decisions of the leaders with a critical eye, not critical speech. These individuals can probably work without strong leadership in place watching their every move. These followers are the types of individuals that we need to strive to be within our organization.

As noted, this is easier said than done. This takes development, discipline, and dedication to the organization. The follower within an organization needs to be developed in order to be effective. If not, they learn to become survivors. This group of followers is known for being good at wandering from one quadrant to another in order to survive within the organization. They know who to talk with about what at any given time and they also know when to keep silence in fear of losing their job. They are proficient at surviving change and they mostly do what their leaders tell them to do. It is better for them to be safe than sorry. This is a sad state to be in within any organization. Personally, it is very unfulfilling as well.

Evaluate yourself to see where you fit and work on those areas that are hindering you from being an effective follower within your organization.

Mission Possible

Do you know what the mission statement of your organization says and the meaning behind it? This is an important part of being an effective follower. If one is entrenched within an organization day in and day out, he or she should look to the mission statement to guide them through the day...even if they are not feeling it is being lived out by those above them. Followers play an important part within the framework of the organization by completing the tasks set out for them by the leader. In turn, the follower gives feedback on the process to the leader, causing the completion of a feedback wheel. Ira Chaleff talks about this concept as an "action circle". Here is his explanation: "Leaders and followers form an action circle around a common purpose. You can’t have effective leaders without responsive followers.” this means that both parties have to strive to be a part of the mission statement. This is how a follower can be a leader right where he or she is at and uphold the mission statement with each task. This is easier said than done. How can an individual serve an organization that does not serve them? How can a follower sit idle and let decisions be made that are hindering the organization rather than helping it?

There are a couple reasons why a follower should stand up and challenge a leaders decision, without challenging the leader. The first situation would definitely involve ethical grounds. There is a term in the military called, "duty to disobey". This means that if there is an unlawful act being presented by the leader, the person has the right to disobey and say, "No" to a directive. We must note that a good follower does not sacrifice his or her personal integrity or the good of the organization in order to maintain harmony therein. To remain employed and continue to receive a paycheck is not an excuse to take part in unethical or unlawful activity. Daft notes, “…ineffective followers are as much to blame for the recent wave of ethical and legal scandals as are crooked leaders. Followers have a responsibility to speak up when leaders do things wrong.” Do you believe this statement?

Your answer to that question should be your answer in what to do when those situations arise. The second thing that denotes an individual to stand up to their superior is when the decision goes against the mission statement of the organization. An effective follower sees him or herself as a vital part of the organization. They feel a sense of personal responsibility and ownership in the organization and its mission. This is why it is vital to understand and know our mission so it is possible for us to be effective in our followership.

Questions anyone?

We all see things that we think are bad ideas being implemented within organizations. We know that they may not work on our level the way they work in a boardroom. What do we do in these situations? Is it okay to challenge our upper leadership?

Sometimes, asking direct and frank questions are the most difficult things that we have to face in our work day. Kelley, a leader in followership development, makes the point that followers need to take risks. He notes this about effective followers, "They are credible, honest and have the courage to speak up. They give credit where due, but also admit mistakes. They are insightful and candid and they are willing to take risks. They can keep leaders and colleagues honest and informed." Sometimes, our information we provide is not welcomed, but other times, it is needed. This is a bold statement made by Daft that most leaders need to work on. He states, "Good leaders want followers who are willing to challenge them for the good of the organization." Have you ever heard this before in your organization? We often do not.

From what Daft is saying, leaders should want to be challenged about their decisions if it is going against something that is not pragmatic or off base from the mission of the organization. Followers sometimes hold onto a parenting mindset or a hierarchical apprehension when they think about asking bold questions of their leader. They believe that they are supposed to sit back and take directions without question. This mindset holds organizations back from reaching their truest potential. The leaders at the top of the organization should want followers at the bottom to voice their view from their vantage point. It is often because a follower's voice is not heard, that poor decisions are made. This puts a lot of responsibility on the follower, but there should be a lot of responsibility put upon them as well as the leaders. Remember that good followers are not afraid to confront the changes within an organization and work toward reshaping that organization. This is different from being resistant to change, which we will also talk about.

I had to learn this lesson from a friend of mine from the east coast of the U.S. They are more bold there than where I grew up in the Midwestern United States. We have this thing called "Minnesota Nice" which is just a way to say that we are timid to your face, but then bold to slander you behind your back. This trait had to stop in me and I had to lovingly be more bold when I saw areas of indiscretion. I am tired of seeing people getting hurt in organizations, especially the leaders that have to much responsibility put on their shoulders and the followers who are not developed in their current role. This gentleman worked at a University where he was an advisor to the provost. He would tell the provost all the time that his ideas "sucked". Now, that isn't leadership talk, but it was very clear what his position as a follower was. He made himself a partner with the organization instead of feeling as though the Provost was a parent who told him what to do and had the final say. He leveled the playing field. The Provost finally spoke up to him once when he made that comment and said, "Thank you for being so blunt. I miss people being honest with me. I am tired of "yes men". Let us try our best as followers to not be "yes men" or "yes women", but speak up for the sake of the organization, giving our full potential to the mission of it, proving to be an effective follower.

Everyone is a follower at one point

Even though I am a leader in several organizations that I serve, I also find myself inevitably in a followership role within that same organization. There needs to be a certain humility that is found within all leaders to be under the submission of another. Look at the hierarchy of a university; even the president of that organization is accountable to the board of trustees. even the board of trustees are accountable to the chairman of the board and even the chairman of the board is accountable to the people within that organization and to the mission statement. The mission statement was defined by the people in leadership over the university who are in submission to their own words. Followership roles are a way of life and if we can acknowledge this fact early on in our leadership roles, we will be able to be effective followers in areas that we have to answer to. If we were ever to say that there was a person or position that had no one else above them or they were not accountable to anything else, we have to also remember that that individual was once a follower him or herself. They have to know what it takes to work under the leadership of someone and recall the feelings, sensations, smells, sights, and emotions of being a follower. This person is accountable to the journey that they have taken to get them there.

Because I must integrate my faith into all that I do as well, I believe that we are all accountable to God in all of our actions. To learn how to be a proper follower of God, he has instructed us to "love our neighbor as our self". He instructed us what it means to serve in a followership role by making everyone else equal in our opinion of ourselves. Servant leadership and servant followership is not an excuse to get walked on and trampled by positions that intimidate us. Rather, servant leadership and servant followership are ways that we can lead others in whatever capacity we are given, for the bettering of something greater. How can I love the Lord my God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength when I can not even love or serve my fellow brothers and sisters that I am surrounded with each day. Servant followership is not just being a "yes man", rather, it is serving the organization through the gifts, skills, education, and knowledge one has about his or her subject matter and the area that they have been placed within the organization. Remember: everyone is a follower at one point or another.

Good follower = Good Leader

A friend of mine recently told me that if you are out to lunch with a client and they are nice to you, but mean to the waiter, that person is not a nice person. There is some wisdom in those words. In other words, I believe he was saying it is possible for a person to be deceitfully nice to your face, while all the while having sour intentions or an ulterior motive towards you behind your back. Can the same be said about followers and leaders? Aristotle made the quote, "He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader". This quote is usually pointed towards leadership meaning that every leader is also a follower, but we can also change it around to look at it through the eyes of a follower. Can we as followers have ulterior motives within our organization? Can we be withholding important information from our leaders to watch them struggle with a decision? There is something intrinsic within us that wants to watch the power of man be squashed, causing our leaders to fall. There is something of a sick, cynical entertainment what wants to say through our intentions, "See, I told you so." It comes down to a basic principle in followership development, "Without followers, there are no leaders." We say that we want to be used within our organization to make changes and that no one will listen to us. Is this because we are not acting like leaders? Are there characteristic traits about us that show an immaturity in the way we handle obstacles that come our way? Do we find pleasure in the struggles of our leaders over us, as to paralyse us from being effective followers?

"He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader" is not just a principle for leaders, but also for the followers that are under leaders; a call to action, if you will, to act as leaders in the place that we are found so that our leadership ability will shine through our followership. We can have all the education, training, and skills to be a better leader than those over us, but if we lack the maturity to use our leadership skills in the places that we are at, we are missing opportunities to not only be effective in the cause of the mission within the organization, but also for others to see those traits within us, utilizing our skills as a leader in our followership position. Let us not be like the individual who is nice to a business partner but mean to a servant. Let us not be nice to our leaders face and then turn around and withhold information from them or slander them every chance we can get. This is not a leadership trait. Instead, be who you are all of the time. If you are not a good follower, admit that you are not and then seek help in developing those skills. If you want to be a good follower, start by living the mission of your organization in whatever capacity you are presented. This is where most of our struggles lie. We see our leaders that do not even do that (so we perceive). We can not change them, but we can change us. Instead of saying, "Why can't my leaders figure out what is going on here?" we can instead ask, "What can I do to help my leader be a better leader?" This usually clears up most conflicts. Try it today.

Calling all followers!

In a world where times change in the blink of an eye, where economics, politics, and religion are all that are being talked about, where the security of our current status may be shaken by inconsistencies in leadership, we are called to produce our best in all circumstances, without waiver to our task. What happens when the efficacy has left us following an injury sustained by the organization we currently serve or one in the past? What happens when we feel timid in our position because we do not want to risk losing our job during this time of inconsistency? What happens when we have leadership skills within us, but feel as though there is no outlet for them? What if we were not called to be a follower but we still desire to have an impact on the organizations in which we serve? What do we do with all of our life experience if we feel our voice will be stifled?

This is the purpose for this site: to share with its audience the roles that followers can play within any organization, regardless of position, competence, or confidence. Each member of a society has a place within that society and has gifts that can be fitted to the benefit of that polis. We, as individuals within that society, need to learn how to extract these gifts, not only from others, but from ourselves. We find ourselves in a generation where leadership training and development takes a much higher place over followership training and development, when in reality, the leaders have the most training to begin with, helping them get them into the current capacities they carry. Those leaders that are in place that have not had the thorough education or training have been given gifts of leadership that are intrinsic and have been given opportunities to build upon these behavioral traits. Sure, they need development too, but we all do; we all need to be developed to be better critical thinkers, be more outspoken about this critical thought, and be confident in our positions as to defend them with credibility. This is what can establish a good leader/follower relationship.

This is my call to organizations: to develop all members of the organization to work hand in hand as leaders and followers for the common mission of the organization. Ira Chaleff notes, "Leaders rarely use their power wisely or effectively over long periods unless they are supported by followers who have the stature to help them do so." This is my call to followers and organizations. Let us develop the followers within our organizations to make this dichotomy of position disappear in a spirit of cooperation towards a central mission.