Understand the leader’s role in developing effective followers

Leadership and followership are closely intertwined. Followership is the ability or willingness to follow a leader. Followership styles are categorized according to two dimensions – thinking and behavior.

The first dimension is the quality of independent, critical thinking versus dependent, uncritical thinking.

The second dimension of followership style is active versus passive behavior. The extent to which one is active or passive and is a critical, independent thinker or a dependent, uncritical thinker determines whether he or she is an alienated follower, a passive follower, a conformist, a pragmatic survivor, or an effective follower. Characterized by both mindfulness and a willingness to act, effective followers are essential for an organization to be effective. They are capable of self-management, discern strengths and weaknesses in themselves and in the organization, are committed to something bigger than themselves, and work toward competency, solutions, and a positive impact.

Identify your Folowership Style   Goto: http://mbanicas.weebly.com/identify-your-followership-style.html

The following activity is based on Robert Kelley's Followership Questionnaire. The intent of this questionnaire is not to place you in a box, but to give you an opportunity to “think out of the box”, and reflect on your own followership style as well as at various types of you will encounter daily.

Followership Styles Style Descriptions 

ALIENTATED FOLLOWER

Approximately 15-25% of the population falls into this style. Alienated followers think

independently and critically, but are not active in carrying out the role of a follower. They

might find themselves disengaging from the group at times. ALIENTATED FOLLOWERs may see themselves as a victim who has been treated unfairly.

Positive Self-Image Includes:

• Being a Maverick who thinks for yourself

• Having a healthy skepticism and seeing things for what they really are

• Playing devil’s advocate for the group

• Being the organizational conscience

Others May View Them As:

• Troublesome, cynical, negative

• Having a chip on your shoulder, a rebel without a cause

•. Headstrong and lacking judgment

• Not a team player

•

Adversarial to the point of being hostile

Leaders Cause Frustration When They:

• Do not fully recognize or utilize your talents and ideas

• Exploit you for their gain, but not yours

•. Let you down by not following through

•. Are not honest in their interactions with you or others

•. Refuse to acknowledge their shortcomings and inconsistencies

Moving from Alienated to Exemplary:

• Maintain independent, critical thinking skills

• Overcome negativity or hostility with the leader by confronting it

• Actively engage in the group’s process by finding a new, positive motivation.

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CONFORMIST FOLLOWER

Approximately 20-30% of the population falls into this style. Conformist followers often say

“yes” when they really want to say “no.” They are eager to take orders and please others.

They assume that the leader’s position of power entitles them to obedience. CONFORMIST FOLLOWERs do not question the social order and find comfort in structure.

Leaders View Their Positive Attributes As:

• Accepting assignments easily and gladly doing the work

• Team player

• Trusting and committing yourself to the leader of the group

• Minimizing conflict

• Being non-threatening to the leader

Others See Them As:

•. Lacking your own ideas

• Submissive and self-deprecating

•. Unwilling to take an unpopular position and stick with it

• Adverse to conflict, even at the risk of failing with the group

• Compromising your needs and ideas to please the group

These Characteristics Fit with Environments Where:

• Following established order is more important than the outcomes

• A domineering leader or culture presides

• Disagreeing with the supervisor or making waves is punished

• Uniformity of dress, behavior, and attitudes is encouraged

Moving from Conformist to Exemplary:

• Cultivate independent, critical thinking

• Develop confidence in your ideas and the courage to act on them

• Confront your fear of conflict and need for structure

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Followership Styles. Style Descriptions

PRAGMATIC FOLLOWER

Approximately 25-35% of the population falls into this style. Pragmatic followers stay in the

middle of the road. They question a leader’s decisions, but not too often or too openly. They

perform the required tasks, but seldom do more than is asked or expected. PRAGMATIC FOLLOWERs may live by the slogan “better safe than sorry.”

Positive Self-Image Includes:

•. Being attuned to the shifting winds of organizational politics

• Knowing how to work the system to get things done

• Keeping things in perspective

• Maintaining balance for the organization

• Playing by the rules and regulations

Others May View Them As:

• Playing political games

• Bargaining to maximize your own self-interest

• Being averse to risk and prone to cover your tracks

• Carrying out your assignments with half-hearted enthusiasm and in a mediocre way

• Being a bureaucrat who follows the letter, rather than the spirit of the rule

They May Be In An Environment With:

• High uncertainty and instability with ever-changing direction and agendas

• An impersonal climate between leaders and members

• An active, buzzing grapevine

• A transactional atmosphere where people have to make a deal to get things done

• An emphasis on staying within the rules and regulations

Moving from Pragmatist to Exemplary:

• Develop and set motivating personal goals related to your core purpose

• Build trust and credibility with others by supporting their goals and projects

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Followership Styles Style Descriptions

PASSIVE FOLLOWER

Approximately 5-10% of the population falls into this style. Passive followers are the exact

opposite of exemplary followers. They look to the leader to do their thinking for them. They

do not carry out their assignments with enthusiasm. They lack initiative and a sense of

responsibility, which requires contact direction. PASSIVE FOLLOWERs Believe They Should:

• Rely on the leader’s judgment and thinking

• Take action only when the boss gives instructions

• Let the people who get paid for it handle the headaches

They Frustrate Others When They:

• Only put in your time, but little else

• Don’t do your share

• Require an inordinate amount of supervision relative to your contribution

• Follow the crowd without considering why

They Believe The Organization:

• Doesn’t want your ideas

• I s managed by a leader who is going to do what he/she wants

• Where going along with the leader and the group is your only choice

• Doesn’t recognize effort and contribution

Moving from Passive to Exemplary:

• Develop an understanding of followership that does not involve mindlessness, that it is

not a spectator sport

• Work on finding ways to invest and involve yourself in the organization

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Followership Styles. Style Descriptions

EXEMPLARY FOLLOWER

Exemplary followers operate well on the two underlying dimensions of leadership. First, they

exercise independent, critical thinking, separate from the group or leader. Second, they are

actively engaged, using their talents for the benefit of the organization, even when confronted

with bureaucracy or other non-contributing members. Unlike the mythic qualities attributed to leaders, exemplary followers are simply able to do their jobs and work with others in a way that adds value to the organization. It is the way in which they go about their tasks that makes them stand out from other followers. They possess a number of skills and value that are both learnable and doable.

• Job Skills

• Focus and commitment

• Competence in critical path activities

• Initiative in increasing value to the organization

• Organizational Skills

• Team members

•

Organizational networks

• Leaders. Values Component

• The Courageous Conscience

1. Be proactive

2. Gather your facts

3. Before taking a stand, seek wise counsel

4. Build your fortitude

5. Work within the system

6. Frame your position so it will be heard

7. Educate others on how your view serve their best interests

8. Take collective action

9. If you meet leader resistance, seek higher authority

10. Have the necessary cushions (financial, emotional, etc) to exercise other

alternatives Information

This One Phrase Helps Turn A Fight Into A Problem To Solve: Saying just two words encourages "defenses to come down and real problem-solving to begin," marriage therapists say. By Brittany Wong 10/04/2019 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/same-team-marriage-arguments_l_5d927aa3e4b0ac3cddad523f

Marriage therapists told us the phrase "same team" may be the quickest way to deescalate an argument..

After 10 years of marriage, Ashley Innes is no stranger to heated, circular arguments with her spouse. Oftentimes, these fights are centered on work-life balance since both she and her husband have demanding, high-stress jobs.

“The last time we argued, it was about career decisions and how they affect us and our kids ― how much time we spend together as a family and who’s responsible for certain tasks around the house,” said Innes, a writer and HIV advocate who lives in Dallas. “At some point, it was getting intense. We were falling into the trap of blaming each other.” But then, Innes pulled out a secret argument-ending phrase that she now uses often.

“I told my husband, ‘Hey, remember we’re on the same team,’” she said. “Saying that just instantly takes you out of the argument and reminds you that this person is not the enemy. Then you can start focusing on listening, compromising and reaching solutions as opposed to just continuing to go back and forth, fighting.”

Innes is onto something. Marriage therapists say invoking those two words ― “same team” ― in some way or another just may be the quickest path to deescalating an argument.

Used judiciously (you don’t want to be “same teaming” every few hours, lest it lose its potency), the phrase can turn a fight into a problem to solve. In those moments when you’re at each other’s throats, it’s a gentle reminder that ultimately, marriage is a team sport, and going for the jugular is the quickest way to lose.

“Saying ‘same team’ is saying even if I don’t want this situation or disagreement, I still want us and this relationship,” said Marie Land, a psychologist in Washington, D.C. “That itself can allow defenses to come down and real problem-solving to begin.”

Physically, pressing pause on an argument for even 10 or 15 seconds will slow your heart rate and help you calm down, Land said.

Even better, the conversational trick becomes more effective over time. If you’ve found a shout of “same team!” to be grounding or calming in the past, hearing it again reminds you that there’s precedent for compromise and understanding.

Why are we so fixated on winning an argument anyway? “Sometimes the immediate individual needs to be heard, acknowledged and valued win out over the partnership," marriage therapist Jennifer Chappell Marsh said. The technique works because it acknowledges something important about emotionally loaded conversations, said Jennifer Chappell Marsh, a marriage and family therapist in San Diego. When we argue, the conversation operates on two different levels: the subject of discussion (the what) and the process of discussion (the how).

“More often than not, simple discussions turn into arguments because of how they are being communicated,” she said. When you set up the conversation as you vs. me, the “how” is flawed from the start. You might win the argument or strong-arm your spouse into agreeing with you, but you’ve lost sight of the real goal: facing your true opponent ― the unwieldy issue you’re arguing about ― together and conquering it as a team. “Calling out a pre-agreed-on phrase like ‘same team’ acknowledges emotions have taken over and interrupts the negative cycle of wanting to win,” Chappell Marsh said.

It’s such a simple solution, it makes you wonder: Why are we so fixated on winning an argument anyway? Why is it so hard to see that you’re on the same team from the get-go? “I think it’s because sometimes the immediate individual needs to be heard, acknowledged and valued win out over the partnership,” Chappell Marsh said. “On a primal level, if you’re winning an argument, you are likely being heard and validated. That feels secure.” “It took several years before it hit us that we were on the same team. We finally realized we either win together or lose together.”

On the other hand, losing an argument to a partner can stir up feelings of fear, failure and disappointment. You feel insecure and threatened, which triggers a fight-or-flight response. To avoid those emotions and that predicament, you put up a fight so you can be the victor. “That’s why people end up behaving in ways that are aggressive, not team-oriented,” Chappell Marsh said.

Admittedly, that instinct can make the “same team” concept difficult to swallow at first. Trey Morgan, a Texas-based marriage coach who has been married to his wife Lea for 31 years, swears by the “same team” trick now, but early on, he struggled with it. “When we had an argument, we both wanted to be right, and honestly, we wanted the other to be wrong,” he said. “It took several years before it hit us that we were on the same team. We finally realized we either win together or lose together because that’s what being on the same team means.” Once “same team” became a fixture in his marriage, Morgan said things improved dramatically.“It’s amazingly calming and effective once you get in that mindset,” he said.

As for what direction to take the conversation after invoking “same team,” try to follow up with questions aimed at understanding your partner’s point of view, said Winifred Reilly, a marriage and family therapist in Berkeley, California.

“Ask curious questions like, ‘What’s most important to you here?’ ‘What’s upsetting you?’ ‘What is it that you want me to understand?’” she said. “Do that rather than stating and restating your position.” And once you’ve adopted a one-team mentality, try to work it into your everyday interactions with your partner.

“It’s good to keep in mind that when one person wins and one person loses, both of you lose,” Reilly said. “Even if things end up going your preferred way, a solution that feels respectful and inclusive will give you a better relationship in the long run.”All Couples Fight. Here's How Successful Couples Do It Differently.