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.