Our book defines followership as, “the behavior of followers that result from the leader-follower mutual influencing relationship” (Lussier & Achua, 2018, p. 240). To me this doesn’t mean that as a follower, you just blindly follow the leader. It means that you make the decision to follow the leader because they have created a good relationship and understanding with you, the follower. It takes a lot to be a good leader; you’re most likely balancing many different relationships while trying to be a good influence on your followers/employees. Having great communication daily is vital for a leader, especially one who oversees a business. I think to have a strong followership one of the behaviors is to be assertive. I think that being aggressive could be an example as well but may be too strong. Being assertive with a leader is a good thing. I think challenging the status quo or what is assumed correct is something of value to a good leader. I was told at the beginning of my coaching career to never be a “me, me, me” coach. In other words, don’t always assume you’re right and if you think you are than challenge yourself by placing people around you who are smarter and will challenge you. I don’t think being passive is bad, but I would want someone to tell me if they think somethings is wrong. Another good behavior quality is optimism. No matter the situation it is always good to have someone around who is optimistic. Optimism can help solve many situations. It helps us learn from failures and to pick up the pieces and keep going (Cutler, 2015).
Delegating is something we have all been a part of whether it was at work, school, through sports, or life. Our book describes a model for delegating and goes as follows, 1. explain the need for delegating and the reason fom selecting the employee or employees, 2. Set objectives that define responsibility, level of authority, and deadline, 3. Develop a plan, and 4. Establish control checkpoints and hold employees accountable (Lussier & Achua, 2018). These steps will help make sure everything is delegated and people understand their jobs. I think a person should follow the deadline and continue communication with the group that has the delegated work. Having the line of communication and deadlines to meet will keep the flow of work going. Evaluating a person or a project should be an ongoing process. Evaluation is important because it gives quality feedback.
I think that a leader should have the freedom to have a personal friendship with some members of their workgroup. I think that the “in-group” and “out-group” can be created by the leader or by the followers. I believe there are steps a leader can take to include everyone in the group. I don’t think a leader can have the relationships without creating the perception. I believe it to be something that just happens. Some people are at work to just work, not create any friendships. Others look to see and spend time with others from work. It would most likely hurt the leader-follower relationship with others if the leader is friends with one or two out of a large group, but that doesn’t mean the group can’t be successful. It’s important for the leader and the followers in the “in-group” to understand that at work you must be professional. The best thing for team dysfunction is honesty and communication. When things go un-talked about, it will only get worse. Having open dialogue and honesty may be tough, but I believe it’s the best thing for dysfunction.
Lussier, R.N., & Achua, C.F. (2018). Leadership theory, application and skill development.
(6 ed.). Cengage Learning.
Cutler, Z. 2015 May, 14. The 5 benefits of being optimistic. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from:
Luke's Blog 