[OPEN FORUM] Rediscovering followership The contribution of a follower must not be underestimated. building block of any organisation and is complementary to Sengupta veryone is talking about leadership these days but seldom does anyone talk about followership. Behavioural scientists, researchers, corporate lead- crs are coming out with various the- ries and forms of leadership. However, rarely does someone come out with more insight on fol- lowership, Isn'ta leader only as good as his follower? A follower is one who pursues a course of ac- tion in synchronisation with the leader toachieve the organisational goals. Effective followers ‘demonstrate enthusiasm, intelligence, self-reliance and the ability to work with others in pursuit of the goal. They recognise the authority of the leader and limitations this imposes on their own. actions, considerall issues on their merits, make their own decisions, remain true to their own val- ues, speak their minds and hold themselves ac- countable for the consequences for their actions. In other words, effective followers given the necessary information and freedom to operate, can be trusted to take independent action to achieve specific goals, subject to their receiving on-going guidance and support to resolve issues beyond. their periphery of competence and influen And, subject to their receiving recognition for the work they are performing. Itis important to note that while the behaviour of effective followers may be seen to be simply doing as they are told, their actions are results of independent thought and decision-making. Undoubtedly, a leader has the It represents the jeadership responsibility of being accountable to his fol- lowers and influencing them for the purpose; but hhaving said that, the duty, responsibility and in- logrity of followers cannot be understated. A leader is not effective without his followers. Be- sides, even if we talk about self-leacership then an individual has to follow himselt, his idealsand his thoughts to become a good leader. It would not be inappropriate to say that a follower is many times even greater than the leader. A leader atleast gets credit and recogni- tion on fulfillment of an objective; a follower on the other hand basks in quite contentment alone. Needless to say, a good leader is said to be one who attributes all his success to his followers. A ‘wise leader realises that would not have been pos- sible without the invaluable contribution of the followers. Consider the following for food of thought on the issue of cult leadership and the truth of fol- lowership: ‘¢ Leaders contribute on an average no more than one-third to the success of organisations Fol: lowers are critical to the completion of the re maining two-third ‘* Majority of the people working in organisati irrespective of their designations, spend more time following than leading # Despite people spending most of their work- ing life contributingas followers to the success Of their organisations, there is little mention of what is the role and significance of the fol- INDIAN MANAGEMENT # JULY 2006lower and how it relates to that of the leader Definitely the follower has some claim to fame in this leadership game jutions Unravelling cont of a follower There is a strong need for corporates to wider their spectrum of leadership beyond the de scription of qualities of the person occupying the leadership role by paying more attention to the characteristics of those being led. The objective of this discussion is in no way to shrink the im: portance and role of leadership but to unravel. the quiet contributions ofa follower. This redis- covery of followership must: ‘© Acknowledge that successful leadership is the outcome of the fruitful interaction between leader and the followers Examine in detail the role of the follower, its importance, value and potential contribution, to the success of the team. Letus look back into the pre-Independence era of India, Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Sub- hash Chandra Bose have made huge conteibution to the cause for which they stood for. Although. they exhibited contrasting styles of leadership, their followers were uniform in their belief on their leader, unquestioned action and unstinted support. When Bose gave the call of ‘Give me blood, and I will give you freedom’, hundreds of thousands of Indians were ready to sacrifice their lives without even thinking whether they will be remembered or not, whether they will live to see INDIAN MANAGEMENT JULY 2008 the freedom or not. Similarly when the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi gave the call of ‘Do (oF Die’, lakhs of Indians stood up to respond, A glowing example of followership can be found al most during the same era. It is said that ‘an en- ‘emy’s enemy is one’s friend’. During the second world war, the Britishers and the Germans were at loggerheads. Ata time when Britishers were 0c cupying India, logic would suggest that India would defi nitely back the Ger mans, However, Ma hatma Gandhi chose to back the British: cersas in this case he thought that Germans were at fault, Al though many people were not convinced by this idea, they all followed unquestioningly a good leader Strategies for promoting followership Leaders who think that they can be effective just by telling others to follow them will only be kid ding. Followers are not dumb. They pay al tion to what leaders say and think with some d sree of intelligence. Ifthe leader does something which concerns them, then they will definitely voice their ooncern, Though, such a practice may slart in the form of gossip. However, ifthe leader is not responsive enough to note these gossips and re ain the trust of the followers, they PHOTO: PRYANKA FARASHAR Even if we talk about self-leadership, then an individual has to follow himself, his ideals and his thoughts to become a[oren Forum] 2 THE EQUATION OF TRUST {An equation of Tust* given by Galford & Seibold (2003) can be reinterpreted for the leaders- followers loop Trust = (Al + A2 + A3)* (Ad + AS) R Where Al = Aspirations (of the followers) A2 = Abilities (of the leader) A3 = Actions (of the leader) A4 = Alignment (between the aspirations of the followers & actions of the leader) AS = Articulation R = Resistance The resistance may build because of — The insincere statements or actions of the leader Fear or insecurity among followers emanating from actions or aspiration of the leader ‘Frustration of being under or over utilised Hierarchical mindset of the leader eleaderin packs justas they cycle goes on and on. ists the driving force behind the people fol- lowinga leader. But, leaders must understand that trust is not an object which can be won once and laken for granted forever. It isa feeling, an abstract yet very a potent proposition which has to be won, over and over again (See box for the equation). For sustaining the trust of the followe a long period of time the leader has to aspirations of the followers through his abilities, ions, alignment and articulation of a vision. At the same time, the resistance must be minimised by being esponsiveand empathetic tothe followers. ‘When Douglas Ivester took over as the Coca Cola chief, he faced a lot of internal resistance because of his hands-on style, One of the reported reasons behind the infamous Reliance feud, be- ‘tween the Ambani brothers appears to be the lack Of followership on both of their part, emanating ise the from lack of trust. ‘A contrasting example in this regard is Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata, a phenomenal per- sonality who commanded huge follawership both inside and outside the Tata Group. His revolu. tionary practices in the field of human resource ‘management were later even adopted by the gov. ernment of India, No doubt he commanded such respect and followership. The trust that people developed in JRD is still reflected in the degree Of trust that people still have on brand Tata, Trust is fundamental in creating and retaining followership Leaders must keep in mind certain points to com- mand good followership Leaders must ‘© Caring and must be genuinely concerne their followers ‘© Aware about the tions ‘© Reliable and have high deg ‘© Never break promises ‘Transparent and truthful ¢ Highly accountable and must certainly own up the failures of the followers Organisations can foster a culture of effective followership by adopting the following strategies: # Adopt a leadership style ing the valuable interactions and contributions of the follower ‘© Communicate this philosophy of leadership and. followership clearly throughout the organisa- tion # Conduct training progeamn for sequences of their own ac of integrity for all employ ce of effective fol- lowership Conduct training programmes for managers, su ‘sors, team leaders toeducate them on how to encourage and create effective followers ‘* Incorporate effective followership into perfor- sals for all employees brate outstanding examples of ip and follower oriented ¢ Reward and ce effective follows leadership Roles and responsibilities of a follower Followership in no way the leader in his follies iota of doubt it calls for high level of integrity and faith on the leader and towards the over- all objective, A follower also has an added responsibility of correcting the leader if he observes that the leader is straying away from the objective. suggests supporting well but without an INDIAN MANAGEMENT o JY 2006,Various roles of a follower ‘The follower also has certain significant roles to assume. Some of the roles are: Participation role: The follower must activ participate in the activities of the organisation as a part of the envisioning process. The whole- hearted participation of the followers is key to the success of any enterprise. Responsible role: The role of assuming re- sponsibility, faking charge of the situation as and ‘when it demands is expected out of a true fol- lower. A follower should not always be expect- ing to be led. He should be able to move in and out of leadership roles whenever the situation demands. ‘Transformation role: Any transformation in the organisation cannot take place only on the vision laid down by the leader. The transforma: tion process has to initiate at the individual fol lower level. Until an individual follower is ready to transform himself/herself, there is no chance for real transformation, Serving role: Service is primary on the part of the follower. But the service has to be true and service has to be for the purpose alone, Moral role: As the leader is responsible for pro. moral direction to the follower, si larly the follower is responsible for making sure that the leader does not dilute his integrity Responsibilities of a follower Some of the pre-requisites for effective fol- lowership are as follows: Ability to understand what the leader wants ‘out of him ‘* Being empathetic to the leader; ability to view and understand the problems and concerns of the leader ‘* Willingness to work more than the expectation of the leader ‘ Ability to prevent exposure of the leader's short- comings to outsiders ‘© Acting as a mirror for the leader so that he can identify his shortcomings and remove them ‘Disagreement on an issue should not boil down to dissent. A true follower persists the line shown by the leader even in the case where he ‘ay not be seen fully convinced with an idea © Acting as a moderator between the leader and. other followers ase the situation so demands vy municate effectively to the leader © Being submissive without losing one’s self-es~ teem ‘© Report, communicate, discuss, propose, sug- ind opine without fear and yet with mod- INDIAN MANAGEMENT # suLY 2006 ‘© Developing oneself while working with the leader © A follower should have high degree of will ingness to participate # Develop high sense of duty and personal ac- countability eek for expansion of one’s periphery of work « Standing-up with the leader even during times of crisis Followership has tobe done in the same way as the earth follows the sun, like the night fol- lows the day and the day follows the night with unfailing regularity and sincerity. A true follower not only playsa crucial role in the success of the leader; he also develops himselfas a great leader one day. Endpoint Followership is as significant as the concept of leadership. While the world deliberates on how to lead people’ itis pertinent to throw light on “how to follow’. The contribution ofa follower must not be underestimated. They represent the building blocks of any organisation. But for commanding fol- lowership, leaders have to develop a high degree of trust by words and pra tice. Having said that, there isa need to deliberate on the sue of role and re- sponsibilities of a follower. Many-a-times it’s not the failure in leading but an inability of following properly, thatruins the show. Overall, there is need to re- discover followership with an intent of not only giving adequate recognition to the followers, not only with providing guidance to become a ‘g00d follower but also for the effectiveness of leadership, ‘aso Te Au | Daas ergy a asso gst dS est ot Marapenen eg, Pay eRe ieee owe ean ender, Bart cher lsesin San Fare, 198 ber Galo, ane bod Dag, sted nde Excave ‘elec, Mah 2003 AY esta, Cca Ca 2004 The ic Lari, MA | even 2,205, [open Forum) There is need to rediscover followership with an intent of not only giving adequate recognition to the followers but also for the effectiveness of leadership 8