Followership (Leadership) MNVOAD Conference 28 March 2015

Transcription

1 Followership (Leadership) MNVOAD Conference 28 March 2015

2 28 March

3 Presentation Focus Define leadership. Define followership. Examine the relationship between leaders and followers. Identify followership styles. Developing exemplary followers. 28 March

4 Attribution 28 March

5 What is Leadership? Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. U.S. Army 28 March

6 What is Followership? Followership is the capacity of an individual to actively follow a leader. Followership is the reciprocal social process of leadership. - Wikipedia Leader + Followers = Results Leadership = 494,000,000 hits Followership = 419,000 hits 28 March

7 What is Followership? 28 March

8 What is Followership? 28 March

9 Some Thoughts Followership and leadership are dialectic. Without followers, leadership is meaningless and leaders don t exist. Without the organization and it mission, neither exist. We tend to move back and forth between leading and following. Can we be both a leader and follower at the same time? Followers are more important to leaders than leaders are to followers. Barbara Kellerman 28 March

10 Some Thoughts Follower s job is to make leader s job easier. Leader s job is to make follower s job easier. Strive to be easy to follow and easy to lead. Being an exemplary follower good for your career. Good followers make their leaders better. All of this is about organizational success. Followers and leaders both orbit around the purpose, followers do not orbit around the leader. Ira Chaleff 28 March

11 The Best Followers Are not sheep. Act with intelligence, independence, courage, and strong sense of ethics. Think for themselves. Go above and beyond. Support the team and the leader. Do the right thing without being told. Enthusiastically pursue the organization s goals. 28 March

12 Followership Styles Exemplary Alienated Conformist Pragmatist Passive 28 March

13 Followership Styles 28 March

14 Followership Styles 28 March

15 Exemplary Positive: Contributes above and beyond. Seeks to add value and assist others. Negative: Highly idealistic; can get disillusioned. Burnout Believes that: Their contribution is important...even essential. 28 March

16 Alienated Positive: A maverick who thinks for oneself. Plays the devil s advocate. Negative: Troublesome, cynical, negative. Adversarial to point of being hostile. Not a team player. Believes that: The leader does not fully recognize or utilize their talents. The leader has let them down. 28 March

17 Conformist Positive: Accepts assignments easily. Trusts and commits self to team and leader. Seeks to minimize conflict. Negative: Lacks own ideas. Unwilling to make unpopular decisions. Is averse to conflict. Believes that: Following the established order is more important than outcomes. 28 March

18 Pragmatist Positive: Knows how to work the system and get things done. Keeps things in perspective. Plays by the rules and regulations. Negative: Plays political games. Is risk averse and prone to cover tracks. Carries out assignments with middling enthusiasm. Follows letter of the law rather than the spirit. Believes that: Staying within the rules is important. Should try to avoid uncertainty and instability. 28 March

19 Passive Positive: Relies on the leader s judgment and thinking. Seldom resists. Negative: Just putting in their time, little else. Requires inordinate amount of supervision. Believes that: The organization doesn t want their ideas. Effort and contribution don t get you anywhere. Going along with leader and group is only choice. 28 March

20 Identifying Followership Styles WARNING: ARMY LANGUAGE 28 March

21 Identifying Followership Styles Private Reiben Pragmatist 28 March

22 Identifying Followership Styles Corporal Upham Conformist 28 March

23 Identifying Followership Styles Private Melish Alienated 28 March

24 Identifying Followership Styles Private Jackson Exemplary 28 March

25 Identifying Followership Styles Captain Miller Exemplary 28 March

26 Moving Towards Exemplary Alienated: Think back to when an exemplary follower. Focus on good of organization, not just self. Communicate and try to restore trust. Leave the organization. 28 March

27 Moving Towards Exemplary Conformist: Well positioned to do so. Learn to play the devil s advocate. Ask questions. Develop own ideas. Confront fear of conflict and need for structure. 28 March

28 Moving Towards Exemplary Pragmatist: Find your purpose. Set a goal and commit to it. Seek to understand what organization, leader, and teammates are trying to accomplish. Work to build trust and credibility. Support accomplishing the overall mission. 28 March

29 Moving Towards Exemplary Passive: Understand following is not a spectator sport. Get more involved. Get more invested in organization s mission. Commit to staying and contributing or leave. 28 March

30 Great Leaders Know How to Follow 28 March

31 Onward Leading is following; following is leading. Great leaders know how to follow. Great followers know how to follow. What are you going to do be an exemplary follower? What are you going to do to develop exemplary followers? Your organization s mission accomplishment depends on it. 28 March