“I’m just not sure our leadership team is really committed to changing things that really need to be improved here. They seem to be dragging their feet.” These are the words of a frustrated follower, who we will refer to as ‘Joe’, communicated to a colleague. When asked by his colleague what he could do to influence the leadership team to embrace these changes, Joe said “I’m not sure. I haven’t really thought about that since I was waiting for them to lead the way.” After further probing by his colleague and added reflection by Joe, it became clear that there was plenty that Joe could do to ‘influence up’ in this situation.
Too often the emphasis is placed on leaders alone without acknowledging the reality that sustained business success can only be prod
uced when the ranks of organizations are filled with effective ‘followers’ who differ from the more commonly-found ‘Joe’s’ in organizations. Even the ‘super’ leader’s contributions will be sub-optimized over time without such a winning team that delivers quality products/services in profitable ways for its customers, shareholders, themselves and others.
Research by Kelley and Chaleff has brought this too often overlooked ‘other half’ (or more) of leadership to our attention in recent years. Many ‘follower’ models are no more than a renaming of psychological types with this slant on people. More recently my colleague, Dr. Franco Ratti of Watson Wyatt (Italy) and we at Life Associates have identified to date ‘11’ attributes of the effective ‘follower.’
It is important to note that effective followers are characterized first, and foremost, by a set of motivations-based qualities that also characterize effective leaders. In fact, while a person may be in a ‘follower’ role (e.g., non-management, or a manager reporting to a higher level manager), these attributes are constants that do not vary by role, function, or organization. And, while some of these strengths are related to personal style/temperament or interests, the effective ‘follower’ has several qualities that are based on their values point-of-view. These include commitment to their organization’s purpose and values (unconditional, not self-serving engagement), honesty, accountability, and courage. For instance, how often have you seen a ‘follower’ intentionally risk their own personal career to do the ‘right’ thing in a situation where the organization’s mission and values may be compromised significantly? Such behavior quickly sorts out the very few truly effective ‘followers’ from the many others (regardless of their status in the organization’s hierarchy).
Effective ‘followers’ also are described by a set of differentiating capabilities. Interestingly, only a few of these qualities involve job-specific capabilities (such as being competent, credible). Instead, most are non-role dependent –either transferable capabilities (such as self-management) or adaptability (change-oriented). While they may be in a ‘follower’ role, the reality I have seen time and again is that such performers have both strong influence and impact on successful performance through their individual and collective contributions as individuals who may actually be viewed as ‘informal leaders.’
When scanning the attributes of effective ‘followers’ it is obvious, however, that a person does not have to be a ‘super’-person to be an effective follower. In fact, Chaleff makes a profound observation in his book, THE COURAGEOUS FOLLOWER, based on his years of research for this subject. He notes “if the purpose (of an organization) is not clear and motivating, leaders and followers can only pursue their perceived self-interest, not their common interest ... a common purpose pursued with decent values is the heart of the healthy leader-follower relationship.” In summary, a strong, ethically-focused, all-win business culture is one of the most powerful resources available to leaders for helping to develop the many Joe’s among us into more effective followers and thereby contributing further to sustained success for both themselves and their organization.
Dr. Michael O’Connor is a recognized thought leader, executive coach and founder of Life Associates & The Center For Managing By Values. Michael is the co-author of “The Leadership Bridge Program (Situational Leadership II® & DISC)” several books, “The Leader Within,” “Managing By Values,” “People Smart,” and more. For additional information visit www.centerformbv.com.
