LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE EIGHTH EDITION 1

Followership

Chapter 12
Leadership: Theory and Practice
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Followership Defined
 Followership--is a process whereby an individual
or individuals accept the influence of others to
accomplish a common goal.
 Culture often focuses on leading rather than
following
 But followers are just as important, if not more so,
than leaders.
 Leadership can be viewed as a shared process.
 Typologies of followers focus on various
dimensions of follower traits
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Kelly Typology (1992)

 (Skip outdated Zaleznik Typology)
 Two dimensions of follower motivation
- independent critical thinking
- active/passive
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Chaleff Typology (1995, 2003, 2008)

 Focuses on helping followers be courageous in difficult situations.
 Two dimensions focusing on mission of organization:
 Supporting the leader when leader is right.
 Challenging the leader when leader is wrong
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Kellerman Typology (2008)

 Useful for understanding importance of
followers in politics and social media
 One dimension: Engagement
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Followership Theory (Mary Uhl-Bien, 2014)

Figure 12.2 Elements of Followership
(From Uhl-Bien’s article, more complete than in book)
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Followership Theory (Mary Uhl-Bien, 2014)

Figure 12.6 Reversing the Lens
 Focusing on how followers affect leaders
and organizational outcomes

Northouse, Leadership 8e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.

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Figure 12.7
The Leadership Co-Created Process
-Combines leader- and follower-centered approaches
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Strengths
 Recognizes followership as a central part
of the leadership process (co-created with
leaders)
 A new way to think about leadership,
focusing on followers
 Provides basic guidelines for what a
follower should do
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Criticisms

 Based on anecdotal observations but not

methodical research.
 Leader-centric view of leadership may be
too ingrained for followership to gain
importance.
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Biblical Reflection
 Following Jesus:

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must

deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow
me.”
Matthew 16:24