Leadership and followership are two interconnected roles within a team or organization. While leadership often takes centre stage, followership plays a critical role in driving collective success. Understanding the dynamics between leadership and followership is essential for fostering collaboration, achieving goals, and maximising team potential. In this article, we explore the distinct characteristics and mutual dependencies of leadership and followership, highlighting the importance of both roles in creating high-performing teams.
Followership is the act of willingly supporting and contributing to the leadership of others. Followers play an active role in the team's success by offering their skills, expertise, and dedication. Effective followers display qualities such as active engagement, trust, commitment, adaptability, and a willingness to contribute their ideas and perspectives.
Let’s break this definition down a little further. First; ‘willingly.’ Followers are active participants who consciously choose what they do. They are rational agents with freedom to choose. Those who are coerced – whether implicitly or explicitly – are not willing and fall short of our definition. Secondly; ‘support’. If someone doesn’t obstruct, that doesn’t mean they are a supporter. Support requires explicit actions and affirmation to be valid. This leads to ‘contributing’ – followership is about actively contributing. To be a follower, you must make the choice willingly, show your support overtly, and take actions to help further the team towards the goals.
Leadership and followership are mutually dependent and interconnected. Leaders rely on the commitment and support of their followers to translate their vision into reality. Meanwhile, followers depend on effective leadership to provide direction, inspiration, and a sense of purpose. The relationship between leaders and followers is dynamic and symbiotic, as each role complements and strengthens the other.
It is easy to assume that the leader-follower relationship is always one way, but real followership (and by extension, real leadership) means that this is not the case. A leader seeks and takes direction, guidance, and advice from their followers. There are interactions between leaders and followers where the roles are reversed. Hence, the relationship is dynamic and symbiotic – it requires followers to actively participate, and for leaders to acknowledge the contributions of followers as equal to their own.
Here are some ways leadership and followership contribute to a better organisation:
Shared Vision: Effective leadership requires the ability to communicate a compelling vision and inspire followers to embrace it. Followership involves aligning personal goals with the shared vision, actively contributing to its realisation, and maintaining commitment throughout the journey. A good follower feels a sense of ownership and self-interest in their teams’ goal – and a good leader imbues and maintains those feelings.
Collaboration: Leaders and followers collaborate to leverage their collective strengths and expertise. Leaders provide guidance and structure, while followers contribute their skills, insights, and diverse perspectives. This synergy fosters innovation, problem-solving, and enhanced decision-making. A leader who requires that they are the smartest person in the room, or that their ideas have an innate superiority, will not have many followers for very long.
Trust and Communication: Trust is the foundation of successful leadership and followership. Leaders must earn the trust of their followers through open communication, transparency, and consistent actions. In turn, followers must trust their leaders' intentions, competence, and ability to make informed decisions.
Empowerment: Effective leaders empower their followers by delegating responsibilities, providing autonomy, and fostering a supportive environment. Empowered followers, in turn, exhibit initiative, take ownership, and contribute their best efforts to achieve shared goals.
Continuous Growth: Leadership and followership involve a commitment to personal and professional growth. Leaders should encourage and support the development of their followers, providing mentorship, feedback, and growth opportunities. Likewise, followers should actively seek growth by learning from their leaders, seeking feedback, and continuously developing their skills and abilities.
It is important to remember that leadership and followership are not opposite ends of a spectrum or some kind of either/or functions. Every leader is a follower and remembering that fact helps us form better teams and achieve better outcomes. Ultimately, leadership and followership are labels we give to the way we interact with others, and improving these interactions not only enhances organisational performance, it makes us happier as humans.
Leadership and followership are not opposing roles; they are interdependent and synergistic. Effective leadership requires active followership, and effective followership requires skilled leadership. By recognising the importance of followership and understanding the dynamics between leaders and followers, teams can achieve higher levels of collaboration, engagement, and success. Embracing both roles within a team fosters a culture of shared purpose, collaboration, and continuous growth, ultimately leading to enhanced performance, achievement of collective goals, and a happier workplace.
If you like this post, please consider contributing to the Collective Wisdom page. It’s free and will help us - and a future leader - immensely. Thank you, we appreciate what you do.