Followership

Followership is the capacity or willingness to follow someone. There are different types of followers. The first type discussed in the reading was the “isolators.” Isolators are completely detached from the group. They do absolutely nothing to aid the group. They are the ones who are secluded and don’t have anything to say at meetings. They are not interested in receiving constructive criticism and don’t care about fellow employees or the leader. They never have any idea about what is going again, which can’t be said for “bystanders.” Bystanders usually know what is going on, but fail to act. They only go along with what everyone else is doing, and usually act out of self-interest. “Participants” put it a little more effort than bystanders and are more engaged. However, they are free agents and only care somewhat. “Activists”, the most ideal type of follower, in my opinion, are the ones who are engaged, active and energetic. They have strong opinions about the leader (they can be good or bad) and can either do a really good job at boosting the leader, or do a really good job at bringing the leader down. “Diehards” are, as the name somewhat suggests, the people who are willing to take anything on in the name of the leader or the entity with which they are affiliated. They are deeply devoted to their leaders, but the opposite can be true as well. Diehards can hate the person/people who are in charge and will stop at nothing to get what they want. After doing the activity that was aimed at helping the class determine whether or not they were good followers, I learned that I could work more in that area. I’m not as supportive as I could be, I don’t really do more than what is asked, and I don’t ever council people who are in positions that are higher than mine. My group and I had to come up with tips on how to council and coach the person in the leadership position. One thing I remember coming with was “be conscious of how you start conversation.” Going up to someone and saying “Here’s what you’re doing wrong” is a lot less effective than “May I make a suggestion?”  We then talked about LMX, or “Leadership Member Exchange.” This theory helps to explain the quality of the relationship between the leaders and the followers as it is assumed that leaders do not interact with and distribute resources, time, energy, and attention to followers equally. We then discussed high quality LMX relationships as having things such as higher levels of leader support and guidance. I formed a study group before one of my midterms and I did notice that some people were more engaged than others. Some people were eager to study the material, while others were there simply to copy answers off of people. One girl sucked all the information she could out of me and then left, without even sharing any of her information. She would be considered an isolator. One of the guys in the group, however, took time out of his day to help formulate a study guide with me. He, on the other hand, would be considered an activist.