The great thinker Aristotle made a point in his writings, particularly in his Nicomachean Ethics, that effective leaders should be adaptable. If they stubbornly stick to one path without considering changes, their plans would be easily disrupted (2002). This brings up an interesting question. What could make followers decide to stop supporting their leaders? It appears that some of the biggest culprits are weak communication, suggestions from other followers to bail out, and leaders not behaving ethically. But there’s also a twist: some really problematic leaders have ways of making it hard for followers to leave. Before we dive deep into these reasons, let’s explore what makes someone become a follower in the first place.
Often, people are drawn to a leader because the leader has a vibrant and outgoing personality. There was a study published in 2002 by a group of researchers, including Judge, Bono, Ilies, and Gerhardt, that found a strong connection between extroverted personalities and leadership (Northouse, 2022). This outgoing trait often acts as a predictor of who steps up as a leader. However, there’s some ongoing discussion in the academic world about whether being outgoing is the only essential trait. Some believe that the ability to communicate effectively is perhaps even more crucial (Tyree, Lemoine & Lee, 2022).
But having an outgoing nature isn’t the full story. Research by Landis, Jachimowicz, Wang, and Krause in 2022 revealed something intriguing. Leaders with outgoing personalities might hold onto their leadership roles, but the group of people they lead seems to change frequently over time. This could mean that while a vibrant personality attracts people initially, it’s the leader’s ability to communicate that actually keeps them around. On the other hand, if a leader is bad at communicating, it might push followers to consider leaving.
Now, if we look at this from a business angle, sometimes a decision to leave is influenced by what others are doing. When many employees decide to quit a company all at once, experts call this ‘group turnover’ (Feng, Li, Chen & Rubenstein, 2023). Often, this happens because the work environment isn’t ideal. Imagine if one employee starts talking about how it’s not fair they’re working long hours without extra pay. If others agree, it can create a domino effect, leading to multiple resignations.
A significant factor that can undermine a follower’s trust is when they question the moral choices of their leader. A significant example from the past is a Penn State sexual misconduct scandal (Northouse, 2022). The formerly respected coach, Joe Paterno, faced severe criticism and backlash because he didn’t handle some serious accusations against a colleague, Jerry Sandusky, in the right manner (Northouse, 2022). More specifically, multiple incidents were reported of Sandusky engaging in sexual acts with many young boys which were all largely ignored by Paterno and the other football leaders of the time. Such incidents can quickly erode the respect and trust followers have in their leaders, and in this circumstance, it led to severe consequences such as the firing of Paterno and other Penn State leaders.
However, there’s an important complexity that should be considered. Sometimes, leaving a toxic leader isn’t a straightforward decision. Lipman-Blumen, in a 2005 article, delved into why some people stay committed to flawed leaders. It’s not always because they want to. Often, followers might feel trapped due to personal needs, fears, or pressures (The Pennsylvania State University, 2023). Manipulative leaders can sense these vulnerabilities and use them to their advantage, making it nearly impossible for followers to successfully leave their leaders.
To wrap it all up, there are a multitude of reasons why followers might part ways with their leaders: issues in communication, the influence of their peers, or even revelations of the leader’s unethical actions. However, particularly with manipulative leaders, the decision to leave might be more complicated than it seems. At the end of the day, it’s clear that leaders who are ethical, skilled, and genuinely care about their followers create a much more positive environment for everyone involved.
Citations
Aristotle (2002). Nicomachean ethics (J. Sachs, Trans.). Focus Publishing, R. Pullins Company.
Feng, J., Li, J., Chen, S., & Rubenstein, A. L. (2023). From a spark to a sweeping fire: An integrative conceptual review of group turnover and a theoretical exploration of its development. Journal of Applied Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001118
Landis, B., Jachimowicz, J. M., Wang, D. J., & Krause, R. W. (2022). Revisiting extraversion and leadership emergence: A social network churn perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(4), 811-829. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000410
Lipman-Blumen, J. (2005). The allure of toxic leaders: Why followers rarely escape their clutches. Ivey Business Journal, Retrieved from https://assess.connectiveleadership.com/documents/why_followers_rarely_escape_their_clutches.pdf
Mitchell, T., Lemoine, G. J., & Lee, D. (2022). Inclined but less skilled? Disentangling extraversion, communication skill, and leadership emergence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(9), 1524-1542. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000962
Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). SAGE Publishing.
The Pennsylvania State University. (2023). Followership and destructive leaders [Lecture notes]. Canvas@PSU. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2283258/modules/items/38927138
You make a very interesting point when you mentioned the amount of influence leaders have over followers from a dark standpoint. This is called toxic leadership which as you mentioned is destructive to both the followers and the organization. From a social standpoint, followers who enable and support these non-beneficial behaviors and actions are also trying to show their loyalty with the hope that they’ll receive something in exchange such as a promotion, raise, or even praise. Either way, it produces counterproductive outcomes thus creating a relationship filled with uncertainty and disconnectedness between the followers and their leaders.
Your post has a great perspective from the view of a follower and why they will leave their leaders behind. Reading your post, you have brought up many good points from a followers point of view. For example, communication will keep leaders in a leadership position regardless of being outgoing. I think being outgoing is a great step towards leadership but if you don’t have any other traits, you won’t be able to succeed as a leader and the followers will leave you behind. I have been put in a position where I left toxic leadership behind by leaving the job entirely and I didn’t realize how toxic it was until I was in a better work atmosphere. Looking back, I can’t believe how long I stayed but it was certainly due to a level of manipulation.