Leadership & Management Reading for Lesson 18: Followership

Lesson 18 Reading Objectives 1. The student will comprehend their followership style and take steps to become a more effective follower. 2. The student will comprehend and apply the principles of courageous followership, including responsibility, service, challenging authority, participating in change, and knowing when to leave. 3. The student will comprehend developing personal potential to include the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Lesson 18 Discussion Objectives 1. The student will apply the principles of courageous followership, including responsibility, service, challenging authority, participate in change, and knowing when to leave. 2. The student will comprehend developing personal potential to include the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

The Role of Followers Leadership and followership are fundamental roles individuals shift in and out of under various conditions Followers’ influence upon a leader can enhance the leader or underscore shortcomings Many qualities desirable in a leader are the same qualities possessed by an effective follower

Styles of Followership Robert E. Kelley described five styles of followership categorized according to two dimensions: The first dimension is the quality of independent, critical thinking, versus dependent, uncritical thinking A dependent, uncritical thinker does not consider possibilities, does not contribute to the cultivation of the organization, and accepts the leader’s ideas without thinking

Styles of Followership The second dimension is active versus passive behavior An active individual participates fully in the organization A passive individual is characterized by a need for constant supervision

Styles of Followership Dimensions result in five followership styles: Alienated Follower: Passive yet independent, critical thinker Conformist: Active participant who does not utilize critical thinking skills Pragmatic Survivor: Has qualities of all four extremes, depending on which fits situation Passive Follower: Exhibits neither critical, independent thinking nor active participation Effective Follower: Critical, independent thinker and active in the organization. Future leader

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The Courageous Follower Courage is found in both effective leaders and followers. Willingness to take risks, challenge authority, and to believe one’s own ideas are superior typically marks a follower as a future leader Follower role includes responsibility, service, challenging authority, participating in change, knowing when its time to leave organization These components of followership require courage

Role of the Follower Courage to assume responsibility Courageous followers: Do not presume that a leader or an organization will provide them with security, permission to act, or personal growth Initiate opportunities for personal fulfillment, growth, and the fullest use of their capabilities

Role of the Follower Courage to serve Courageous followers: Discern the needs of the organization and actively seek to serve those needs Support the leader’s decision, providing strength, complementing the leader’s position, and serving others’ display of follower’s courage

Role of the Follower Courage to challenge Courageous followers: Do not sacrifice the purpose of the organization or their personal ethics in order to maintain harmony and minimize conflict They stand up against leaders and decisions when that behavior contradicts the best interest of the organization, or their own integrity

Role of the Follower Courage to participate in transformation Courageous followers: View the struggle of corporate change and transformation as a mutual experience Support the leader and the organization during a difficult transformation Are not afraid to confront the changes and work toward reshaping the organization

Role of the Follower Courage to leave Often organizational or personal changes create a situation in which a follower must withdraw from a leader-follower relationship Followers are not afraid to depart because they do not rely on leaders or organizations for their self-worth

Sources of Follower Courage The courage to accept risk derives from several sources: Strength from personal philosophy/religious beliefs A vision of the future can provide courage to follow difficult course of action Past event that tested individual courage can make future courageous behavior easier Personal values can give one the courage to act Commitment to peers, deep concern for others, and outrage at injustice can foster change

Developing Personal Potential Steven Covey defines a habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire He arranges seven habits along a continuum from dependence to interdependence

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Developing Personal Potential Each habit builds on the previous one so individuals grow further along the maturity continuum as they develop personal effectiveness habits Dependent people expect someone else to take care of them and blame others when things go wrong Independent people have developed a sense of self-worth and an attitude of self-reliance Interdependent people realize that it is best to work cooperatively with others

Developing Personal Potential Covey’s first three habits deal with self-reliance and self-mastery. These are private victories; they only involve the follower Habit 1: Be Proactive® Be responsible, don’t blame others Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind® Start with a clear mental image of your destination Habit 3: Put First Things First® Focus on preserving and enhancing relationships and on accomplishing results

Effective Interdependence The first three habits build a foundation on independence, from which one can move to interdependence—caring, productive relationships with others which Covey calls public victories When a person moves to interdependence, he steps into a leadership role

Effective Interdependence Habit 4: Think Win-Win® Implies understanding that without cooperation, the organization cannot succeed Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood® Requires a nonjudgmental attitude. Emphatic listening gets inside another person’s frame of reference

Effective Interdependence Habit 6: Synergize® Synergy is the combined action that occurs when people work together to create new alternatives and solutions. The essence of synergy is to value and respect differences Habit 7: Sharpen The Saw® Process of using and continuously renewing the physical, mental, spiritual, and social aspects of life