Are you ever been assigned a position of power as an employee or employer, or are you an organizer, or a participant in school or group projects? If not, you probably know someone who is or wants to be. Everybody within stands a chance of leading a group of people or following a leader at one point in life. Consequently, leadership, and followership form a basis for creating and propagating relationships. However, the quality of these relationships varies depending on the perceptions and behavior of the followers and leaders. They can be reflected in people’s commitment to work or projects and their satisfaction with work or projects. Hence, this essay seeks to discuss the relationship between followers and leaders using a real-life experience.
Undisputedly, as managers, employees, or group participants, we have experienced, if not heard, people rising to the positions of power but failing to achieve. Mainly, because one cannot simply lead an organization, or a group effectively. Currently, this situation is evident in several organizations. In my previous organization, we experienced failures in leadership as the person we entrusted with that job failed to demonstrate effective leadership. This event pushed one member of our group to step up as a leader. Harreld (2015) submitted that failure of ineffective leadership is associated with position, knowledge, personality, and even communication irrelevance that contributes to the emergence of another leader.
Interestingly, at this point, we realize the power of followers. Although the group member who stood to take up the leadership position was influential, the followers played a critical role in empowering his emergence. Harreld (2015) mentioned that emergent leaders rely on followers’ acceptability and valuation. Consequently, the emergent leaders could derive power from us. This experience shows that both leaders and followers greatly influence the leadership process because they both need each other. Leaders or followers cannot utilize leadership or followership without each other.
Realistically, most of us are and will continue to be followers more often than leaders. However, the perspective of being an effective follower has not been given as significant consideration as that of being an effective leader. The ineffectiveness of our leader was underpinned by struggles to succeed even when the industry was thriving. Harreld (2015) submitted that leaders in such situations fail to realize and uphold that followers often need some form of guidance, if not motivation, to be committed and satisfied with their work. In our case, the leaders failed to acknowledge that followers played an equal role in determining and pushing any group goal or agenda forward by supporting and empowering the leaders. The emergent leader gave up some amount of individual autonomy, enabling us to gain an extra level of security and better living standards. For this reason, and for believing that we had a hand in group achievements, the emergent leader received our empowerment and support.
In conclusion, There is a strong connection between followership and leadership, and a more significant percentage of us are followers rather than leaders. Effective followership forms a basis and foundation for effective leadership because good and skilled followers help nurture good leaders by empowering and supporting them(PSU WC, 2022, L.3). Besides this, effective followership plays a crucial role in determining and pushing an organization or a group forward, making leaders and followers both feel committed and satisfied which creates a cycle of growth and development for both followers and leaders(PSU WC, 2022, L.3).
References
Harreld, N. (2015). Followership-Leadership Theory: With Examples from YouTube and Modern Media. https://www.academia.edu/download/57883944/Dissertation.pdf
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2022). Psych 485 Lesson 3: Followership. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188514
I agree that followers and leaders work together to influence the outcomes and goals of an organization (Northouse, P. G. (2021) page 364). Followership as a theory emphasizes the power followers have on influencing the power that their chosen leaders have. For example, followers have the power to give referent power to their leader. Referent power is the likeability that a leader receives when a follower identifies or aligns with the leader (Northouse, P. G. (2021) page 10). Followers can give a leader referent power, which helps enable leaders to accomplish their goals. When leaders enable their followers to have power, they are able to allow the followers to challenge their opinions and give different perspectives on an issue while tending to work in the best interest of the organization at hand (PSU WC, 2022, L. 3 p.7).
You also touch on the interdependence of followers and leaders. This exemplifies the point that leadership is a process in which there is an interaction between a leader, followers, and a given situation (PSU WC, 2022, L. 1 p.7). The interaction involves all components so it can be implied that effective leaders are only as effective as their followers in a situation (PSU WC, 2022, L. 3 p.9). This can be seen in management settings in a workplace where the manager’s performance is contingent on the work done by his or her subordinates. In this case, the manager must make sure that the employees have what they need to succeed and excel in their roles. This can lead to followers taking a more participative role in the leadership process so that their needs are heard and addressed.
Additionally, you mentioned that leaders and followers have similar group goals within an organization, which helps them create a common ground to work from. Again, followers tend to work towards the goals of the organization (PSU WC, 2022, L. 3 p.7), so when leaders emerge from groups, they are already working towards the same goals, it just becomes a matter of the followers accepting that leader. Overall, your examination of the leader-follower dynamic hones in on key points of the followership theory. Your discussion of the power followers have is important for aspiring leaders to note when attempting to influence others because it recognizes the need for effective followers.
References
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). PSYCH 485 Retrieved from
https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2181168/modules/items/35188530
Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory & Practice (9 ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.