Northhouse - Followership Flashcards
process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal
followership
true or false: followership is morally neutral
false; it carries responsibility consider the morality of one’s actions and the rightness or wrongness of the outcomes of what one does a follwer
true or false: leaders and followers work together to achieve a common goal.
true; both share a moral obligation regarding these goals
what are the two broad categories of followership?
role-based and relational-based
focuses on followers in regard to the typical roles or behaviors they exhibit while occupying a formal or informal position with a hierachial system
role-based followership
sociological theory that argues that people create meaning about their reality as they interact with each other
social constructivism
emerges from the communication between leaders and followers and stresses the interplay between following and leading focusing on interpersonal process and one person’s attempt to influence and the other person’s response these influence attempts.
relational-based followership
People who determined Typologies of Followership
Zaleznik (‘65), Kelley (‘92), Chaleff (‘95), Kellerma (‘08)
Zaleznik (‘65) typologies of followership
withdrawn, masochistic, compulsive, impulsive
Kelley (‘92) typologies of followership
alienated, passive, conformist, pragmatist, exemplary
Chaleff (‘95) typologies of followership
resource, individualist, implementer, partner, diehard
Kellerman (‘08) typologies of followership
isolate, bystander, participant, activist
enhances our understanding of the broader area of followership by breaking it down into smaller pieces
typology
What type of typology was intended to help leaders understand followers and also to help followers understand and become leaders? (personal aspects)
Zaleznik Typology
followers are enormously valuable to organizations and that the power of followers often goes unrecognized. (motivations of followers and follower behavior)
Kelley Typology
What are the parts of Zaleznik Typology?
dominance, submissive, active, passive, masochistic, , impulsive, compulsive, withdrawn
“sheep” who look to the leader for direction and motivation
passive followers
“yes people” always on the leader’s side but still looking to the leader for direction and guidance
conformist followers
think for themselves and exhibit a lot of negative energy
alienated followers
“fence-sitters” who support the status quo but do not get on board until others do
pragmatics
“star” followers who are active and positive and offer independent constructive criticism
exemplary follwers
What are the axes of Kelley’s topology?
independent critical thinking, dependent uncritical thinking, active and passive
What are the five follower role types for Kelley’s typology?
passive followers, conformist followers, alienated followers, pragmatics, exemplary followers
amplify the significance of the role of followers in the leadership process.
Chaleff Typology
followers need to take a more proactice role that brings more responsibility, to change their own internal estimates of abilities to influence others.
Chaleff Typology
followers should be morally strong and work to do the right thing when facing the multipliciy of challenges that leaders place upon them
Chaleff Typology
exhibits low support and low challenge. does just enough to get by
resource
demonstrates low support and high challenge. often marginalized by others, speaks up and lets the leader know where she or he stands
individualist
acts with high support and low challenge. often valued by the leader. they are supportive and get the work done but, fail to challenge the leader’s goals and values
implementer
shows high support and high challenge. takes responsibility for themselves and the leader and fully supports the leader, but is always willing to challenge the leader when necessary
partner
importance of leaders is overestimated due to power, authority and influence and the importance of followers is underestimated. Followers are subordinates who are “unleaders” meaning they have little power, no position of authority and no special influence
Kellerman Typology
a continuum which describes followers on one end as being detached and doing nothing or being very dedicated and deeply involved with the leader and the group’s goals.
level of engagement
unengaged, detached, don’t care about leaders, does nothing to strengthen the influence potential of a leader
isolates
observers that do not participate. they are aware of the leader’s intentions and actions but deliberately choose to be uninvolved
bystanders
feel strongly about the leader and their policies and are determined to act on their own belief. agents for change
activists
engaged to the extreme, deeply committed to supporting the leader or opposing the leader, totally dedicated to their cause, even willing to risk their lives for it.
diehards
the attributes of followers such as confidence, motivations and the way an individual perceives what it means to be a follower
followership characteristics
the attributes of the leader, such as power and/or willingness to empower others, their perceptions of followers and the leaders affect
leader characteristics
behaviors of individuals who are in the follower role, obey, defer or resist the leader
followership behaviors
behaviors of the individuals in the leadership role, such as how the leader influences followers to respond
leadership behaviors
results that occur based on the followership process
followership outcomes
approach to followership that addresses followers in a manner opposite of the way they have been studied in most prior leadership research - how followers affect leaders and organizational outcomes
reversing the lens
What are the theoretical frameworks of followership?
reversing the lens and the leadership co-created process
one individual’s following behaviors interact with another individual’s leading behaviors to create leadership and its resulting outcomes
leadership co-created process
Perspectives on Followership
followers get the job done, followers work in the best interest of the organization’s mission, followers challenge leaders, followers support the leader, followers learn from leaders
shifts attention away from leaders and focuses more on followers’ reactions to the leader and how the behavior of followers affects organizational outcomes.
followers get the job done
followers assert themselves in ways that align with the organizations goals ahead of the leaders’ goals.
followers work in the best interest of the orgaznization’s mission
followers who challenge the leader can help make an organization run more effectively and successfully
followers challenge leadersnh
when followers validate and affirm the leaders’ intentions
followers support the leader
followership gives individuals the opportunity to view leadership from a position unencumbered from the burdens and responsibilities of being the leader. they observe what does or does not work for a leader and learn which approaches or methods are effective or ineffective and apply this learning.
followers learn from leaders
leaders who have dysfunctional personal characteristics and engage in numerous destructive behaviors, yet, people follow them
toxic or harmful leaders (adolf hitler, slobodan milosevic (genocide of thousands of albanians)
Why do people follow bad leaders? (according to lipman-blumen)
unhealthy followership occurs as a result of people’s needs to find safety, feel unique and be included in community.
People want their leaders to provide guidance and protection like their parents,.
our need for reassuring authority figures
people have a need for consistency- to keep their beliefs and attitudes balances
our need for security and certainty
protecting one’s uniqueness and distinguishes oneself from others, feeling of immortality, special, singled out by a higher authority
our need to feel chosen or special
one of humans’ strongest interpersonal needs is to know whether they belong to the group.
our need for membership in the human community.
how many someone adjust themselves to feel accepted, comfortable and valued by a group or individuals.
willing to give up their individuality, beliefs, and integrity to retain their social belonging.
If a groups’ mission or values run counter to the followers own, pressure to conform makes it challenging for individuals to disagree with the group or try to get them to change– going against the norms or bringing attention the negative aspects.
our fear of ostracism, isolation and social death
finding that it is not easy to challenge the leader or go against the leader’s plans for the group, even when a leader acts inappropriately or treats others harmfully.
our fear of powerlessness to challenge a bad leader
What are the takeaways of followership?
discussing followership forces us to elevate its importance and the value of followers. how individuals accept the influence of others to reach a common goal. provides a set of basic prescriptions for what a follower should or should not do to be effective.
what are the limitations of followership?
absence of research makes it difficult to contretely conceptualize how followers contribute to the leadership process. followership literature is primarily personal observations and anecdotal. leader-centric orientation that exists in the world may be too ingrained for followership to blossom.
how can followership succeed?
it will need both leaders and followers to be strong in their roles; followers must serve the purpose of teaching the leader as well as learning from the leader.
what are the applications of followership research?
followership is AS IMPORTANT as leadership, learning about followership could become very important to organizations by helping them understand themselves, how they function and how they can best contribute to the goals of the group or organizations for which they are members.
