Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FOLLOWERSHIP
“Learn to obey before you command.”
Solon
A. Followership
Followership is relatively a new field of study. Numerous definitions based on the experiences and
understanding of different people from different fields has come up to give meaning to the word. The
following are some of the definitions:
It is the process in which subordinates recognize their responsibility to comply with orders of leaders
and take appropriate action consistent with the situation to carry out those orders to the best of their ability.
It is the ability to know where and when to articulate one’s views on an issue, and then to have the
loyalty and the devotion to carry out the final decision on that issue.
Webster's dictionary defines followership as "The capacity or willingness to follow a leader."
B. Importance of followership
1. Followers are potential leaders
2. Most leaders are also followers.
3. The traits required from followers are the same traits required from a leader
Following is inherent to us especially to soldiers but it does not make everyone a good follower. It
takes time to learn the skills of good followership just like in leadership.
C. Interdependencies Between a Leader and Follower
In the study of leadership, followers are all too often taken for granted. However, there exist critical
interdependencies between leader and followers that cannot be ignored. These interdependencies are
essential to mission accomplishment.
1. Superior education, technical skills, and access to information are no longer available
only to leaders or the aristocracy. They are available to everyone. As a result, there is a very narrow gap
between the abilities of leaders and followers.
2. Leaders come from the ranks of followers. Few leaders can be successful without first
learning skills of followership. Hence, the contemporary study of leadership must examine followership and
leader development as they affect organizational success. Followership is, in effect, a prerequisite, for
effective leadership. Most of us are followers more often than we are leaders. Even when we have
subordinates, we still have those above us. Followership, dominates our lives and our organizations, but a
preoccupation with leadership often constraints us from truly appreciating the nature of' the follower.
3. Qualities that make effective followers are paradoxically the same qualities found in
effective leaders. What distinguishes effective followers from effective leaders is the role they play.
Effective followers and leaders easily move from one role to the other. In many organizations, the
leadership role is the path to success and the one that is most focused on for development and rewarded.
That is unfortunate because most organizations need good followers more than they need emerging
leaders. A few organizations such as the military recognize the importance of the role of follower.
D. Qualities of an Effective Follower
1. They manage themselves well.
The key to being an effective follower refers to the ability to think for oneself – to exercise
control and independence and to work without close supervision. Good followers are people to whom a
leader can safely delegate responsibility, people who anticipate needs at their own level of competence and
authority.