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Followership Development: A Behavioral Approach
Abstract
Leadership development programs have traditionally focused on building a leader’s skills, identities, and behavioral styles with little attention paid to followers. Yet we know that followers are an integral part of the leadership process, and effective followership can positively influence both leaders and organizations. The purpose of this chapter is to define and present a model for followership development in organizations. Using followership theory and research as a foundation, this chapter discusses two forms of followership behavior (i.e., active and passive), and examines the ways in which different followership styles can affect leaders and the leadership process. In doing so, I make a case for why organizations should invest in followership development for both leaders and followers in organizations, and present a general model for followership development programs. As organizations continue to rely on effective followership to support and enhance leadership, it is imperative that we begin bringing followers into the leadership development equation.
... The role-based approach is represented in mainstream followership streams such as implicit followership theories (Sy, 2010), followership role orientations (Carsten et al., 2010) and typologies of followership (Kelley, 1992(Kelley, , 2008Kellerman, 2008;Chaleff, 2009). Carsten (2017) summarized this rank-based view, arguing that the field of "followership considers the skills, behaviors, and influence that individuals use while interacting with "higher-ups" in an effort to advance the mission of the organization" (p. 144). ...
... We found some behaviors that do not refer to being influenced such as prohibitive or promotive voice (Kim and Toh, 2019), absenteeism (Nevicka et al., 2018) and free-riding (Boulu-Reshef et al., 2020). Some behaviors also focus on individual goals that inherently differ from shared goals such as perpetrated rudeness (Kluemper et al., 2019), resistance (Güntner et al., 2020), dissent (Uhl-Bien et al., 2014), proactive behaviors (Fuller et al., 2015), and independence (Carsten, 2017). All these behaviors are important and must be studied in their own right (e.g., see the large and blooming literature on employee voice; Morrison, 2014Morrison, , 2023; 4 however, these behaviors do not pertain to the followership field because they do not refer to individuals being influenced to reach a shared goal. ...
... If, in our role as educators, we can approach (busy) managers and tell them schematically: "Here is a way to be more effective in your role as a manager, and it includes following person x under y or z circumstances while taking a, b, and c into account, " a followership identity may better resonate with them. Currently, followership development is not appealing because few managers want to develop the skills to be an effective direct report (as implied by a role-based approach) or know how, why, or when direct reports should have a more proactive approach to their role (Carsten, 2017;Hurwitz, 2017). ...
What does it mean to follow? In this paper, we systematically review the followership literature for the period 2017–2021. Our review shows that the followership literature suffers from three major issues that limit its validity. The followership field is dominated by a role-based approach equating direct reports with followers; empirical studies fail to study actual following behaviors, and there are no studies of downward following, which we define as any behavior or effort aimed at achieving a shared goal, carried out by an individual in a position of formal power who is influenced by one or more individuals in a position of inferior authority. Our manuscript builds on the process approach to study what it means to follow. We argue that the followership field needs to study actual followership behaviors at the micro “interaction episodes” and rely on quantitative behavioral coding. We then propose a conceptual, multi-level model that details antecedents and boundary conditions of the emergence of downward following. We conclude by discussing the organizational implications of our approach and model.
... As Latour and Rast (2004) note, members of the military engage in both roles during their careers. Indeed, the more general literature suggests that people must alternately demonstrate leadership and followership in their jobs (e.g., Carsten, 2017;Jaser, 2017;Kelley, 1992) and are expected to juggle the two roles effectively. Jaser (2017) refers to such individuals as connecting leaders, who engage in both leadership and followership roles, linking people from various levels together. ...
... Leadership and followership have been conceptualized as distinct, such that leaders make decisions and followers execute objectives set by leaders. However, several authors argue leadership and followership can be intertwined (e.g., Bjugstad, Thach, Thompson, & Morris, 2006;Carsten, 2017) and collaborative (e.g., Chaleff, 2003;Rost, 2008). Notably, some scholars have discussed how "followers actively have an influence over leaders" (Oc & Bashshur, 2013, p. 919), thus blurring the boundaries between the two roles (e.g., Kelley, 2008). ...
... Given the prevalence with which leadership and followership intersect in the workplace, understanding how individuals experience their leadership and followership roles, as well as foster the skills required to manage them successfully, is highly important. However, while these two roles are often intertwined with individuals acting as "connecting leaders" in the workplace (Jaser, 2017), considerably more focus had tended to be placed on leadership development in organizations (Carsten, 2017). ...
Many people must demonstrate both leadership and followership in their jobs and are expected to juggle these two roles effectively. This dynamic is particularly salient in the military, where people often switch between leader and follower roles depending on the situation. In this study, we sought to better understand how members of the military interpret and engage in these two roles. We interviewed ten individuals who were either employed at or attending the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) and who held positions encompassing both leadership and followership. Two key themes emerged from the study. First, unexpectedly, we found that members not only recognized the importance of the two roles, but also described them in ways that seemed to fuse them together: in other words, leadership and followership were seen as one. We also found that far from attempting to maintain distance and authority with respect to subordinates and trainees as might have been expected, respondents emphasized mentoring and modeling mechanisms implying closeness and proximity, thus bridging the distance between leaders and followers. Our findings reveal the distinctive form that “connected leadership” may take in the military. We conclude with a discussion of the transferability of these findings to other settings.
... Frequently, followership behaviour styles are used as proxies for role orientations. For example, behaviours such as dependence, compliance, and uncritical thinking are associated with passive role orientations while initiative-taking, taking ownership and critical thinking reflect an active role orientation (Carsten, 2017). ...
... The finding in respect of the two types of following is very much in keeping with the literature on followership role orientation and followership behaviour styles (Carsten, 2017;Carsten et al., 2016;Kelley, 1988). This literature discusses the two main role orientations as active and passive, similar to the descriptions by the study participants. ...
... Kelley's Follower Typology (Kelley 1988)A significant body of research from this role-based viewpoint focuses on the related issues of followership role orientation and followership behaviour styles(Carsten, 2017 ...
There is an extensive body of research relating to leadership and many different theories or perspectives exist to try to understand the nature and practice of leadership. For many years, leadership research studied the traits, skills or approaches of the people who lead. The literature is characterised by a leader-centred approach or viewpoint in which the nature and outcomes of leadership are attributed, almost exclusively, to the leaders’ characteristics and behaviours. Latterly, studies have begun to focus on the role of followers and how their beliefs, characteristics and behaviours contribute to the process of leadership and leadership outcomes. Despite the shift in focus to examine the role of followers, most studies continue to be leader-centric in that they examine leaders’ perceptions of followers or the impact of the followers on leader behaviour. To fully examine the process of leadership and its outcomes, it is necessary to ‘reverse the lens’ and view the leadership process from follower-centric and followership-centric perspectives which recognise the significance of the role of followers in the leadership process.
It has been argued that higher education institutions represent a unique, complex and possibly hostile organisational context in which to practise leadership. This comes about due to a combination of the particular organisational culture of higher education institutions, the manner in which influence flows in such institutions, and unique aspects of the academic profession such as tenure and individual autonomy. Consequently, it is claimed that those in leadership roles in higher education institutions, and other similar organisations, experience significant difficulties and struggle to lead effectively. It is proposed that different approaches to leadership should be employed in this context or even that leadership should be eschewed entirely in favour of shared, distributed and collaborative approaches. Follower-centric approaches define leadership as a co-created process in which followers have an equal role and impact to that of leaders in contributing to leadership outcomes. From this perspective, the problems identified with leadership in higher education are as much caused by ineffective followership as by ineffective leadership and therefore the solutions may lie, at least in part, with how followership is viewed and practised in higher education institutions.
This research study sought to look at the process of leadership in higher education via follower-centric and followership-centric viewpoints. The goal was to determine what those working in higher education believe about followership, how these beliefs impact upon their behaviour, and the resultant implications for the leadership process and leadership outcomes. The study consisted of a comparative case study of two Irish higher education institutions.
The study of followership is in its infancy, in general, and there have been very few studies, to date, which explore followership in higher education. The focus and nature of this study will contribute significantly to the knowledge in the nascent research fields of followership and followership in higher education. In addition, the study will identify novel implications for the practice of both leadership and followership in the context of higher education institutions.
... The first dimension reflects how followers are able to think for themselves, provide constructive criticism and suggestions. Meanwhile, the dimension reflects how followers take the initiative and demonstrate active participation in the organization to do work and/or in the leadership process, and make decision (Carsten, 2017;Kelley, 1992;2008). Using the two dimensions then Kelley proposes five types of followership styles. ...
... The preliminary step that the companies can do is conducting a job satisfaction survey to identify factors that lead to the employees feel dissatisfied and then take preventive actions to eliminate the issues. Considering an exemplary follower tend to have emotional attachment to the job and the organization which ultimately leads to commitment and job satisfaction, promoting this exemplary followership style will give benefits in terms of human capital and employee development in the organization (Carsten, 2017). Therefore, assessing the follower-ship style during recruitment process might be beneficial in addition to providing leadership training regularly at work. ...
p>The quest to provide excellent services causes the aviation industry face challenges that can impair the well-being or “happiness” of its employees. Therefore, managing employee well-being is crucial for the industry to help its employees feel positive while serving the companies. This research aimed to examine the roles of followership styles, job satisfaction and perceived supervisor support in promoting psychological well-being in the Indonesian air transport operator contexts. Specifically, the research examined the impact of job satisfaction on psychological well-being and assessed whether job satisfaction itself was influenced by employees’ followership styles and their perceived supervisor support. A test was also performed to examine the moderating role of perceived supervisor support in the relationship between followership styles and job satisfaction. On-line questionnaires were distributed to potential respondents using a combination of convenience and purposive sampling. A number of 109 non-managerial employees from several Indonesian commercial and non-commercial air transport operators involved. Structural Equation Modeling was adopted to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings showed the majority of respondents enacted “exemplary followership” styles. This style positively related to job satisfaction. However, perceived supervisor support was not found to moderate the relationship. The managerial implication of the findings is outlined.</p
... Calls for leadership and followership development are not new (e.g., Carsten, 2017;Collinson & Tourish, 2015;Day & Lui, 2019). Yet, our conceptualization highlights the need for development that takes both a leadership and followership focused perspective. ...
This conceptual paper challenges assumptions about the primacy of leaders and leading over followers and following in the leadership process. Leadership cannot be holistically understood unless followership and leadership are researched as they are enacted—in tandem. To move toward a more complete understanding of leadership, we introduce a leadership system which involves a co-created leadership process, unfolds over time, and accounts for stability and change in partners’ expectations and behaviors. Drawing on role theory and implicit leadership (ILTs) and followership (IFTs) theories, we suggest how expectations of self and other influence leading and following behaviors and the leadership process. Personal learning acquired through the experience of leadership results in stability or change in one’s future expectations. Our framework explains how stability and change in each dyad partners’ leadership and followership expectations comes about through constructionist and constructivist mechanisms. These mechanisms occur across two timelines: The first is the microadjustments made to expectations and behaviors within a particular leadership occurrence. The second is the loop between personal learning and the expectations each member carries into future leadership occurrences and relationships. Practical implications arising from this new framework include considerations for leadership and followership development and a contribution to leadership forecasting.
Although numerous typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors of followers have been proposed, there has been little systematic work to integrate these efforts. Guided by literature on follower role theory and expectations for those in follower roles, we propose a theoretical descriptive typology of follower characteristics and behaviors from the perspective of how leaders view followers within their role(s). Specifically, we constructed our typological model based on the three core tenets of follower role theory: (1) active versus passive characteristics and behaviors, (2) self-directed versus relationship-directed characteristics and behaviors, and (3) stability-focused versus change-focused characteristics and behaviors demonstrated in response to organizational constraints. We then conducted a systematic review of existing follower typologies, taxonomies, characteristics, and behaviors and synthesized 173 follower concepts from 36 Journal articles and book chapters to build out our typological model of 8 specific types of followers, labeled as follows: Politically strategic followers, independent followers, proactive followers, conforming followers, deviant followers, alienated followers, devoted followers, and submissive followers. This typology has important implications for scholars and practitioners. For scholars, this is the first effort to integrate prior attempts to classify follower in-role characteristics and behaviors, thus providing a useful framework to examine various ways in which followers interact with leaders in organizational frameworks. For practitioners, this typology can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine how to effectively engage subordinates.
Drawing from recognition‐based categorization and self‐fulfilling prophecy theory, the present study investigates antecedents and consequences of leaders’ implicit followership theories (LIFTs). Using latent variable modelling, in a sample of 230 leader‐follower dyads, we support our hypotheses that follower personality and in‐role behaviour influence LIFTs which, in turn, affect follower effort and performance. Specifically, we found that general factor of personality (GFP), including agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, intellect, and emotional stability, positively predicted positive LIFTs and negatively predicted negative LIFTs. Furthermore, personality had an indirect effect on positive and negative LIFTs via active engagement and independent thinking behaviours respectively. With respect to outcomes, positive LIFTs indirectly impacted follower performance via effort. Contrary to our predictions, negative LIFTs also indirectly impacted follower performance via effort, despite showing a negative direct relationship with performance. Our comprehensive model reveals new insights on LIFTs and highlights the importance of educating both leaders and followers about LIFTs.
Practitioner points
Managers should be cognizant of the follower traits and behaviours that influence their expectations of followers and be mindful of the potential harm done by negative expectations.
Followers should be mindful of the way they engage with their leaders, especially when it comes to independent thinking behaviours which may be construed as rude or overly critical.
Finally, organizations should encourage leaders and followers to discuss implicit expectations as this may resolve misinterpretations of behaviour and negative attributions of performance.
This field study examined the feedback-seeking bebavior of 387 managers as observed by tbeir superiors, subordinates, and peers. Results suggest that managers' tendency to seek negative feedback increased tbe accuracy of tbeir understanding about bow tbese feedback sources evaluated their work. Seeking negative feedback furtber enbanced the tbree constituencies' opinions of tbe managers' overall effectiveness. Seeking positive feedback, in contrast, decreased constituents' opinions of tbe managers' effectiveness. Sucb results demonstrate tbe importance of botb instrumental and impression-management concerns in tbe feedback-seeking process and support tbe proposition tbat active feedback seeking is a central part of a total process of self-regulation for managerial effectiveness.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate leaders’ use of humor as an expression of how they value themselves relative to others. The paper suggests that humor can minimize or exacerbate the status differences between leaders and followers. The paper hypothesizes that leaders’ use of self‐ or in‐group‐deprecating humor would be positively associated with ratings of transformational leadership as they minimize those distinctions, whereas leaders’ use of aggressive humor would be negatively associated with ratings of transformational leadership because it exacerbates status distinctions.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 155 undergraduates (58 males, 97 females; M age=20 years, SD =1.31) were assigned randomly to one of four conditions, each depicting a different type of humor in a leader's speech.
Findings
Leaders using self‐deprecating humor were rated higher on individualized consideration (a factor of transformational leadership) than those that used aggressive humor.
Research limitations/implications
The authors encourage future field research on the role of humor as an expression of leaders’ self‐ versus other‐orientation.
Originality/value
Humor and work might seem inconsistent, but this study demonstrates how leadership can use humor to improve leader‐follower relationships. Furthermore, it contributes to our understanding of self‐deprecating humor which has received scant attention relative to other forms of humor.
Charismatic leadership has been largely overlooked by organizational theorists. In part, the problem can be attributed to the lack of a systematic conceptual framework Drawing from political science, sociology, and social psychology, this paper addresses the problem by proposing a model linking organizational contexts to charismatic leadership. A series of research hypotheses is offered.
Organizational literature has long presumed that power is communicated and enacted through behaviors exchanged at the level of face-to-face interaction. Little research, however, has investigated this aspect of power. The author explores how power is embedded in manners of speech exchanged in everyday interaction among superiors and subordinates. He draws upon the sociolinguistic theory of “politeness.” Politeness, linguistic behaviors used to demonstrate regard and consideration for others, is hypothesized to be sensitive to the social distribution of power. Low power actors are most likely to use linguistic politeness behaviors because such behaviors minimize the possibility of conflict with superiors. Results of a laboratory study confirm that politeness behaviors are sensitive to the distribution of formal authority in organizations. When superiors use politeness, they are more likely than subordinates to employ a subtype of politeness that demonstrates consideration by intimating social familiarity and camaraderie. The hypothesis that egalitarian values moderate the overall effect of power politeness is not supported, perhaps because of the constraints of the experimental situation.
Overall, the study demonstrates how abstractions such as authority and equality can be measured in terms of the manners of comportment that actors bring to bear on one another in face-to-face contexts. Given the possibility that egalitarianism can be operationalized at a linguistic level of analysis, the findings have important ramifications for the study of the presumed status leveling associated with programs of workplace participation. The study broadly shows how sociolinguistic perspectives can contribute to our understanding of organizational phenomena.
To the perennial question of why and how people obey, organizational and political theories usually offer a restricted vision mainly based on interpersonal power processes and organizational control mechanisms. Although such theories are useful, the recent evolution of business organizations toward post-bureaucratic models means they must be combined with another dimension that we call 'moral obedience'. In this article, we suggest that morality is developing in managerial strategies as business contexts become more and more fragile, uncertain and threatened. We argue that this 'moral movement' may be pervasive in hybrid political regimes of governance combining democratic and bureaucratic aspects. The purpose of business leaders is to create loosened communities where people should feel a sense of duty and where, at the same time, a sense of being unique and competitive should remain strongly embedded in individual rationales.
This article reviews and evaluates major theories of leadership and summarizes findings from empirical research on leadership. Major topics and controversies include leadership versus management, leader traits and skills, leader behavior and activities, leader power and influence, situational determinants of leader behavior, situational moderator variables, transformational leadership, importance of leadership for organizational effectiveness, and leadership as an attributional process. Methodological issues in leadership research and implications for improving managerial practice are discussed also. An integrating conceptual framework is presented to show how the different theories and lines of research fit together.
In a U.S. invested enterprise in China, the receptivity of Chinese employees to a participative work environment was examined. Structural equation analysis indicated support for a model in which job satisfaction mediates the relationships between elements of a participative work environment (i.e., tasks performed, the relationships individuals had with their work groups, and the nature of the decision making processes) and employee willingness to cooperate with co-workers and intention to quit. Task interdependence also had a direct relationship with willingness to cooperate.
Implicit followership theories (IFTs) are defined as individuals’ personal assumptions about the traits and behaviors that characterize followers. Goals of this research were to: (1) Identify the content and structure of IFTs, (2) examine the relationship between IFTs and extant implicit theories in the leadership literature, and (3) establish a preliminary nomological network of leaders’ implicit followership theories by examining its consequences for leader–follower interpersonal outcomes. This study included 1362 participants across five separate studies and seven samples. Results provide evidence for content, convergent, discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity, as well as internal and temporal consistency of the IFTs instrument. IFTs are represented by a first-order structure (Industry, Enthusiasm, Good Citizen, Conformity, Insubordination, and Incompetence), and a second-order structure (Followership Prototype and Antiprototype). Leaders’ IFTs predicted interpersonal outcomes: liking, relationship quality, trust, and job satisfaction. Future research and practical implications are discussed for this understudied branch of leadership research.
A psychometric measure of power and influence as personality traits was developed according to conceptual distinctions previously made by social scientists. Factor analyses from different samples replicated a distinction between the need for power (nPower), assessing an egoistic striving for position, and the need for influence (nInfluence), assessing a desire to persuade and affect others. These scales were distinguished from the perceived ability to influence/have power and resistance to subordination. Additional analyses supported the reliability and discriminant validity of all scales. Measures reflecting egoism (e.g., arrogance, Machiavellianism) tended to correlate positively with nPower and negatively with nInfluence. Conversely, nInfluence correlated with measures of interpersonal orientation (e.g., expressiveness, perspective taking) while nPower tended to show negative relationships with these scales.
A number of recent studies highlight the importance of followership, of identity issues for leadership processes, and of leaders' capacity to shape followers' identity. Reviewing these various contributions, this article outlines the potential value of post-structuralist theories for the study of followership and follower identities. It presents an alternative way of conceiving identity and power and examines a wider repertoire of follower selves, exploring in particular the workplace enactment of conformist, resistant, and dramaturgical identities. Suggesting that leaders' impact on followers' identities may be more complex than previously recognized, the article concludes that studies of leadership need to develop a much deeper understanding of follower identities and of the complex ways that these selves may interact with those of leaders.
This study adopts a qualitative approach to deconstruct the meaning of followership. Interviews were conducted with employees in various industries to examine how individuals socially construct their roles as followers and to explore followership schemas and contextual influences that relate to these constructions. Results suggest that while some individuals socially construct definitions around passivity, deference and obedience, others emphasize the importance of constructively questioning and challenging their leaders. With regard to personal qualities that are thought to make followers effective, major themes such as obedience, expressing opinions, and taking initiative were found to be most disparate across different groups of followers. Results also revealed that contextual factors may affect both followership constructions and behavior in the follower role. These findings have important implications regarding a need to examine the construct of followership in leadership research, as well as raise interesting possibilities for advancing an “expanded” view of leadership in organizations.
Findings from two field studies support the proposition that the way individuals define their role, or their role orientation, is a powerful influence on their behaviour, resulting in more or less effective job performance. The first study showed that, within a relatively self- managing context, flexible role orientation predicted supervisory assessments of overall job performance, as well as a change in job performance. The second study showed flexible role orientation predicted job performance in high autonomy jobs but not low autonomy jobs. In both studies, role orientation predicted performance more strongly than other work attitudes, including job satisfaction, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and job aspiration. Collectively, the findings suggest that the development of a more flexible role orientation represents a relatively unexplored avenue for enhancing employee performance, particularly in self- managing contexts. As such, further research on the process of shaping and promoting employees' role orientation is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Human Relations is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Our possessions are a major contributor to and reflection of our identities. A variety of evidence is presented supporting this simple and compelling premise. Related streams of research are identified and drawn upon in developing this concept and implications are derived for consumer behavior. Because the construct of extended self involves consumer behavior rather than buyer behavior, it appears to be a much richer construct than previous formulations positing a relationship between self-concept and consumer brand choice.
Followers' identification with the leader and the organizational unit, dependence on the leader, and empowerment by the leader are often attributed to transformational leadership in organizations. However, these hypothesized outcomes have received very little attention in empirical studies. Using a sample of 888 bank employees working under 76 branch manages, the authors tested the relationships between transformational leadership and these outcomes. They found that transformational leadership was positively related to both followers' dependence and their empowerment and that personal identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' dependence on the leader, whereas social identification mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' empowerment. The authors discuss the implications of these findings to both theory and practice.
People within organized groups often internalize their feelings of obligation to obey group rules and the decisions of group authorities. They believe that group authorities and rules are legitimate and, hence, entitled to be obeyed. Because of this belief, group members voluntarily accept and obey rules and decisions from group authorities. This review draws on evidence from studies of authorities in political, legal, managerial, educational, and family settings to explore why people view as legitimate and voluntarily defer to group authorities. Two theories about legitimacy are contrasted: resource-based theories, represented by instrumental models, and identification-based theories, represented by the relational model. The findings provide strong support for the existence of a relational component of legitimacy, suggesting that authorities draw an important part of their legitimacy from their social relationship with group members. The findings also show that there is an instrumental component to legitimacy. Hence, the psychology of legitimacy involves both instrumental and relational elements.
Using a sample of U.K. wire makers (N = 282), the authors tested a model in which personality and work environment antecedents affect proactive work behavior via cognitive-motivational mechanisms. Self-reported proactive work behaviors (proactive idea implementation and proactive problem solving) were validated against rater assessments for a subsample (n = 60) of wire makers. With the exception of supportive supervision, each antecedent was important, albeit through different processes. Proactive personality was significantly associated with proactive work behavior via role breadth self-efficacy and flexible role orientation, job autonomy was also linked to proactive behavior via these processes, as well as directly; and coworker trust was associated with proactive behavior via flexible role orientation. In further support of the model, the cognitive-motivational processes for proactive work behavior differed from those for the more passive outcome of generalized compliance.
In this article, listening to the radio is investigated as an embodied articulation from a life historical perspective. How did and does radio configure with embodied practices from the beginning of radio broadcasting until today? The study is based on qualitative life historical interviews with 14 Danish radio listeners born between 1928 and 1948. Drawing on socio-material theory, the relationship between listening bodies and the materiality of radio apparatuses is analysed as a material-cultural intra-action from a temporal perspective. Interpretations of the personal narratives of elderly Danes who have grown up with and experienced radio all their lives suggest that living with radio articulates a becoming of a modernized ‘radio body’. This article forms part of ‘Media and the Ageing Body’ special issue.
Building upon relational leadership theory, we develop a theoretical model examining the association between leader-follower congruence in follower role orientation and manager and subordinate relational and well-being outcomes. Follower role orientation represents individuals' beliefs regarding the best way to enact a follower role. We predict that managers and subordinates who share similar role orientations will experience higher quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships and greater eustress than those who differ in their follower role orientations. Propositions are presented for direct effects between congruence and stress and indirect effects through LMX. Our theoretical model contributes to nascent research on followership by offering greater understanding of manager and subordinate beliefs regarding how followers should enact their roles, and the importance of considering leader (i.e., manager) as well as follower outcomes in the workplace. It also extends current thinking about stress as an important outcome of leader-follower relationships. Copyright © 2016 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Rather than encouraging leaders to mentor followers to "follow me" as an imitation learning imperative, leaders may mentor to specific and objective abilities/ traits to create dynamic subordinates. These dynamic follower competencies form a foundation from which follower initiative can grow to leader initiative more naturally. The identified follower competencies help leaders focus their mentoring efforts. This approach encourages followers to develop fully, based on their personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and situational factors.
Business and behavioral undertakings such as job enrichment, participation, ernpowerment, and transformational leadership are organizational attempts to expand the employee role. This article examines a number of these undertakings to illustrate how they function as role-expansion mechanisms, and how they implicitly define five role characteristics generally reflective of a proactive employee. While job and task competence, interpersonal effectiveness, and organizational orientation have always been associated with the employee role, the other two role characteristics - enterprising qualities and personal integrity - represent relatively new expectations. These new demands raise some important issues for firms and managers, centered on differences associated with the firm's, the manager's, and the employee's expectations regarding the use of judgment and initiative. The article examines some implications of these differences, discusses person-environment fit considerations, and proposes recommendations for handling the problem. It concludes with a discussion of how the continuing evolution of the employee role blurs the traditional line between manager and employee, and how this affects the traditional managerial role.
It is widely argued that modern manufacturing settings require employees to adopt a customer-focused strategic orientation and a broad and proactive role orientation. Yet empirical investigation of this issue is lacking. We describe the development of measures of both types of work orientation and present two field studies that examine how these orientations change. Findings suggest that, although the implementation of new production practices can in itself lead to the development of a strategic orientation appropriate to modern manufacturing, change toward a more flexible role orientation additionally requires the introduction of autonomous forms of working.
Followership has been recognized as an essential component of leadership studies as evidenced by growth of research within this area. To keep pace with the growth of this research, it is time to bring followership into the leadership classroom. This paper proposes a case-based exercise with two main learning objectives: (1) to help students broaden their perceptions about followership, and (2) to promote followership behaviors that actively contribute to organizations. This exercise includes large group discussion, peer coaching, and individual work to facilitate these endeavors. The paper concludes with suggested methods for assessment that include both self- and peerratings, as well as open-ended reflection.
Building upon the observation that individuals feel ownership toward a variety of targets, we suggest that under certain conditions, organizational members can develop feelings of ownership toward the organization and various organizational factors. We define psychological ownership, identify its "roots" and the primary "routes" through which it develops, and propose certain organizational outcomes. We discuss the conceptual distinctiveness of psychological ownership from a set of related constructs and suggest some theoretical and managerial implications of our theory.
This study seeks to “reverse the lens” in leadership and ethics research by investigating whether follower (rather than leader) characteristics are associated with intentions to engage in unethical behavior. Specifically, we examine whether followers’ beliefs about the coproduction of leadership and the romance of leadership are related to their willingness to commit a “crime of obedience” by complying with a leader’s unethical request. Using a vignette depicting an unethical demand by a leader, 161 working adults were asked to indicate whether they would obey or challenge the leader’s request. Regression analyses show that individuals with weaker coproduction beliefs demonstrate a stronger intent to obey unethical requests, whereas individuals with stronger coproduction beliefs demonstrate a stronger intent to engage in constructive resistance. This relationship is partially mediated by displacement of responsibility. Findings also identify an interaction between followers’ belief in the coproduction of leadership and romance of leadership, such that individuals with stronger coproduction beliefs who romanticize leaders reported a stronger intent to obey unethical requests. Results are discussed in relation to research on obedience to authority and burgeoning research on followership.
Personal initiative is conceptualized as a behavioural syndrome made up of several factors. It is important for organizational effectiveness and is one aspect of ‘contextual performance’. The construct validity of a set of interview- and questionnaire-based scales for measuring initiative was ascertained in interrelated studies (two waves from a longitudinal study in East Germany [N = 543] and a cross-sectional study in West Germany [N = 160]). As hypothesized, initiative correlated with partners' assessments, need for achievement, action orientation, problem-focused and passive emotion-focused coping, career planning and executing plans, but not with job satisfaction. Higher initiative existed in small-scale entrepreneurs in the East and in those unemployed who got a job more quickly.
Using a three-page questionnaire administered to a sample of 302 senior-level executives, this study examined the perceptions of executives on the distinguishing characteristics of effective leaders and followers. Most of the characteristics associated with effective leaders were perceived to be different from those associated with effective followers. A significant number of the respondents agreed that (a) leadership and followership are interrelated roles; (b) leadership and followership skills have to be learned; (c) effective leaders and effective followers can influence work performance, quality of work output, satisfaction and morale, and cohesiveness of work groups; and (d) researchers have not devoted enough attention to the study of followership.
Although status and stratification processes have been studied extensively at the societal level in the sociology literature, they continue to be neglected in the study of management and organizational life. This review begins by questioning why this neglect has occurred. The authors then focus on the theoretical perspectives and empirical findings related to ascribed and achieved status, their interrelationships, how status hierarchies are established and maintained in organizational settings, and the role of culture in these processes. They conclude with an agenda for future research and implications for management practice.
The purpose of this paper is to define leadership through "followership." The paper begins by defining "leader,""follower," and "symbiosis." It explores: what followers do; what followers want; and what followers and leaders expect from each other. From these perspectives, the paper presents a rationale for how leadership and followership should be integrated into leadership development to maximize a symbiotic relationship. It uses John Gardner's definition of leadership because it communicates the inherent aspect of communication between leaders and followers and focuses on persuasion or reward rather than force as the driving motivation for both the leader and the follower. The paper points out that modern trends in organizational structures and management practices have attempted to capitalize on the principles of teamwork and redefine the relationship of leader and follower, but that these newer approaches to leadership have had their critics, and that there is little solid research to support the theories. Nevertheless, the paper suggests a pedagogical approach to a leadership development program for freshmen based on humanistic values which enhances both the leader and the follower. Offered are activities and exercises of skills associated with the follower's role and the identified framework; as a goal, the aim is the development of role models who demonstrate followership skills that prepare them for leadership. Contains 19 notes. (NKA)
Leadership is often seen as an inherently individual phenomenon but in reality it is a system that encourage collaboration and make changes not only effective but possible. The new leader will encourage healthy dissent and values those followers courages enough to say no. It will go to the leader who exults in cultural differences and knows that diversity is the best hope for long term survival and success. The leadership will be built of energy and ideas, led by people who find their joy in the task at hand, and cooperating at each other.
explores the critical importance of the role that followers play in the legitimation of a leader's authority and prerogatives / relates the legitimation process to current and promising trends in the leadership literature, including leader–follower exchanges, perceptions of charismatic influence, and aspects of group decisionmaking (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We propose that a leadership identity is coconstructed in organizations when individuals claim and grant leader and follower identities in their social interactions. Through this claiming-granting process, individuals internalize an identity as leader or follower, and those identities become relationally recognized through reciprocal role adoption and collectively endorsed within the organizational context. We specify the dynamic nature of this process, antecedents to claiming and granting, and an agenda for research on leadership identity and development.
ABSTRACT There is evidence from a variety of sources that employees often do not feel comfortable speaking to their bosses about organizational problems or issues that concern them. The purpose of this study was to shed light on the types of issues that employees are reluctant to raise, and identify why employees sometimes decide to remain silent rather than voice their concerns. We interviewed 40 employees and found that most had been in situations where they were concerned about an issue but did not raise it to a supervisor. Silence spanned a range of organizational issues, with several of our respondents indicating that they did not feel comfortable speaking to those above them about any issues or concerns. The most frequently mentioned reason for remaining silent was the fear of being viewed or labeled negatively, and as a consequence, damaging valued relationships. From our data, we develop a model of how the perceived consequences of voice contribute to silence, and a model of how the social and relational implications of speaking up can take away employees’ ability to have influence within an organizational setting.
In this exchange of letters, Art Bedeian and Jerry Hunt consider what leadership as a concept actually means and whether what has been published in the relevant literature actually deals with leadership per se. Bedeian notes that leadership has been described as (a) synonymous with holding a supervisory or managerial position, (b) the possession of certain personal qualities, and (c) a category of behavior in which an individual acts in a certain manner, thereby influencing others to follow, and wonders if divergent findings regarding the relationship between leadership and other constructs may simply reflect differences in how leadership is defined. Hunt responds to Bedeian by providing a brief history of the literature's treatment of leadership/management differences and arguing for: (1) a framework that helps focus on the different historical-contextual aspects within which one would specifically be called upon to differentiate between leadership and management, and (2) the assumption that leadership is a subset of management, with both needing to be carried out (though not necessarily by the same person) to ensure organizational success. He concludes by articulating ways for researchers to empirically differentiate between leadership and management.
This article uses the romance of leadership notion to develop a follower-centric perspective on leadership. A social constructionist view is highlighted. I clarify some of the assumptions of this approach, contrasting them with those of a more leader-centered perspective. In an effort to increase the testability of this approach, I outline a general model, paving the way for generating individual and group-level hypotheses, and discuss implications for practice and for future leadership research.
Adolescents differ in the extent to which they believe that parents have legitimate authority to impose rules restricting adolescents' behavior. The purpose of the current study was to test predictors of individual differences in legitimacy beliefs during the middle school years. Annually, during the summers following Grades 5, 6, and 7, early adolescents (n = 218; 51% female, 47% African American, 73% in 2-parent homes) reported their beliefs regarding the legitimacy of parents' rules that restrict and monitor adolescents' free time activities. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that legitimacy beliefs were bidirectionally associated with independent decision making, psychological control, antisocial peer involvement, and resistance to control. Legitimacy beliefs declined more rapidly during the middle school years for boys than for girls and for adolescents who were older relative to their classmates. More independent decision making in Grades 5 and 6 predicted larger than expected declines in legitimacy beliefs in Grades 6 and 7. In sum, legitimacy beliefs weaken developmentally, and weaker legitimacy beliefs relative to same-grade peers are anteceded by premature autonomous experiences, psychological control, and adolescent attributes.
The author discusses and contrasts the psychological concept of "authoritarian personality" with the popular concept of similar name and stresses the clear need for a distinction between both concepts.
This study of 126 employee-supervisor dyads examined a mediated model of the relationship between proactive personality and job performance. The model, informed by the social capital perspective, suggests that proactive employees reap performance benefits by means of developing social networks that provide them the resources and latitude to pursue high-level initiatives. Structural equation modeling suggested that the relationship between proactive personality and job performance is mediated by network building and initiative taking on the part of the employee.