Followership refers to the capacity or willingness to follow a leader. Effective followership is important for any group or organization to succeed. Followers can develop skills valuable for future leadership through consciously managing their relationship with their direct superiors. Followers want opportunities for growth, clarity of direction, frequent feedback, and protection from organizational intrusions from their leaders, while leaders want followers who have a "make it happen" attitude, willingness to collaborate, motivation to learn, and passion for self-improvement. There are different styles of followership including effective, passive, alienated, conformist, and pragmatic survivors.
2. What is Followership?
• According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Followership is:
• “1: FOLLOWING
• 2: the capacity or willingness to follow a leader”
• For any group or organization to succeed, there must be followers
• It is a place to learn skills valuable for leadership
6. Managing up
• Consciously and deliberately developing a meaningful, task-
related, mutually respectful relationship with you direct superiors
7. Tactics For Managing Up
• Be a Resource for the Leader
• Help the Leader Be a Good Leader
• Build a Relationship
• View the Leader Realistically
8. Sources of Power for Managing Up
• Personal
• Knowledge Skills
• Expertise
• Effort
• Persuasion
• Position
• Visible Position
• Flow of Information
• Central Location
• Network of Relationship
• Assume Responsibility
• Courage to Challenge
• Participate in Transformation
• Courage to Serve
10. What a Leader Wants From Followers
• A make it happen attitude
• A willingness to collaborate
• The motivation to stay up to date
• The passion to drive your own growth
11. What Followers Want From Leaders
• Opportunities for Growth
• Clarity of Direction
• Frequent, Specific, and Immediate Feedback
• Protection from Organizational Intrusions
12. Bibliography
• Daft, R. (2015). Followership. In The Leadership Experience (6th
ed., pp. 195-215). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
• Dictionary: Followership. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/followership
• Garone, E. (2008, October 8). What It Means to 'Manage Up'
Retrieved October 4, 2015, from
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122511931313072047
• Hoption, C. (2014). Learning and Developing Followership. Journal
Of Leadership Education, 13(3), 129-137.