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Followership

In: Business and Management

Submitted By fallout4321
Words 354
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Followership is a concept that is vital to the survival to any or all leadership theories. According to Oregon Universities Holden Leadership Center, both are dependent upon the interaction of the other: “Team efforts.. require active followers. Followers set the levels of acceptance for leadership. And in many ways, it is more important for leaders to understand followers than for followers to understand leaders.”
The site gave various signs of what makes a follower, namely, cooperating towards a mission in groups, demonstrating teamwork, and building cohesion among the group. It is described as the building blocks to effective leadership. It then laments at the scarcity of research and the recurring taboo surrounding followership. It gives seven signs that exemplify effective followership within a group: volunteering, acceptance of assignments, exhibiting loyalty, voicing opinions (but supporting final decisions), offering suggestions, maintaining a positive attitude especially in “confusing or trying times,” and working effectively as a team member.
To most, the signs explain themselves. I think that at its heart, it’s the refusal of selfish tendencies as a worker, which is also at the center of being a good leader—followers have difficulty following selfish and toxic leaders, just as they should hold themselves to that same standard.
The article continues to give examples of things followers can do to build up and optimize their group. They should strive to understand the mission and goals of their organization, their leader, and their group, so they can balance their own interests with that of the organization and group. They can also take proactive steps to pin point certain challenges their leader faces and work to ease their pressures and challenges. They can offer extra support and they can try to find ways to bring out their leaders best attributes.

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