Leadership is a very big deal. In the world of work, in society, and in education, we search for leaders. Many strive for leadership positions, and nearly everyone wants to develop their leadership potential. Billions of dollars are spent annually on leader development programs. As a result, attention is rarely paid to followers. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a young person say, “I want to be a follower!” The reality is, however, that followers are just as important as leaders, and perhaps more so.
We just hosted the 4th Global Followership Conference at Claremont McKenna College, and I thought I would reflect on some takeaways from that meeting.
- There Is No Leadership Without Followers. It is crystal clear that leadership is not something that leaders do. It is created through leaders and followers collaborating. In fact, the term that surfaced, both from an academic perspective, but also from those who work to develop followership, is that leadership is co-created by leaders and followers working together.
- Leadership Is a Process of Mutual Influence. The stereotype is that leaders exert influence (e.g., power, persuasion) and followers act. The reality is that followers can exert their influence to affect the leader and the outcomes. Think of the power of unions, of social movements, or the Great Resignation: Followers can simply refuse to follow and walk out the door. There is give-and-take among leaders and followers.
- Employee and Follower Are Not Synonymous. In much of our thinking, and in a great deal of research, we equate “leader” with “manager/supervisor” and “follower” with “employee/team member.” But just because someone is labeled an “employee” it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are following. And, we have all experienced leaders who don’t really lead. Leadership and followership are more than just roles.
- Followers Ultimately Determine the Course of Leadership. This one is not simple. Whether leadership is deemed successful or unsuccessful is dependent on the outcome: Did the collective achieve its goals? And are those outcomes good/beneficial or bad/destructive? This all depends on the followers working in concert with the leaders. The followers either work with, or resist, the leader’s agenda. Sometimes, the followers’ influence is what actually drives the leader’s agenda (e.g., when public sentiment sways the leader to alter course). As Ira Chaleff has emphasized in his books The Courageous Follower and To Stop a Tyrant, the only way to stop a destructive leader is for followers to rebel and refuse to follow. And, as we have seen in the cases of destructive 2oth-cinner circleentury dictators, the inner circle of followers – the dictators’ cronies – are often worse than the leaders themselves.
What Is Needed
Given the overlooked, but immense, power of followers, greater attention needs to be paid to follower development – ensuring that followers are well-equipped to achieve positive outcomes and keep leaders from going off the rails. Yet, because of the power dynamic, that takes courage on the part of followers: Just ask a whistleblower or an incarcerated protester who has tried to stand up against leadership for a just cause. It is interesting to note that at the conference, there were a number of practitioners who are well-versed in follower development, but the discussion often turned to how to market follower development in a world obsessed with leaders and leader development.
Checks and balances are needed and these often involve strengthening coalitions of followers. The recent trend toward unionization (e.g., Starbucks, Apple, Trader Joe’s) is one way. Allowing follower/constituents a voice, via political protests, town hall meetings, management-employee open meetings, etc., is another strategy. We (and history) know the destruction that can occur when a leader consolidates too much power, silences critics, and demands unquestioning loyalty (and following) from followers — that oft-used stereotype that followers should be “sheep,” blindly following their leader.
So, let’s change the negative stereotypes of followers and following, realize that followers have their own sources of power and influence, recognize that good followership takes good development, and allow good followers and good leaders to co-create leadership for the greater good.
