Description
An effective platoon leader in the military may have years of training and experience, but if her soldiers do not trust her or follow her commands effectively, a critical mission can be easily compromised. A successful coach of a sports team may improve the overall performance of his team, but without talented and committed players, championships can be hard to come by. In business, the leader often receives praise for success, even though the other members of a group or organizationthe followersare likely more important to achieving that success. What are the qualities of those followers who contribute to the success of an organization?
This week you are also reading in Passion & Purpose: Stories From the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders about the complexities and speed of change and how Leaders must rely on not only their teams, but an even wide circle.
A lot of leadership studies talk about leadership as a matter of concentric circles. The inner circle is the individual; the first circle out is the people in that leaders organization or the team. Most of our earlier studies focused on those two circles. Now we concentrate on a third circle as well, and that is working outside your team, with leaders of other teams, and with other organizations. You increasingly have to learn how to align yourself with others in order to tackle the major problems (Coleman, Gulati, & Segovia, 2012, p. 49).
Think about what this means when it comes to the value leaders can draw from followers. What are the implications to the leader? What are the responsibilities of the follower in this age where the complexities of leadership and pace of change are ever increasing?
To prepare for the discussion this week, first read the articles on followership by Cox, Plagens, and Sylla (2010), Johnson (2011), and Kelley (1988) in this weeks Learning Resources. Then, read Lipman-Blumens (2005) article on toxic leadership. As you read these resources, reflect on leaders you have observed, both those that you admire and those that you do not admire. Consider how the followers these leaders can empower and influence leadership in their organization.
Based on your analysis of the Qualities of Leaders from Week 1 this weeks readings, as well as your own experience and observations, post in the Week 2 Discussion Forum the following:
- Your analysis of how followers can influence the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of leaders Hint: Your analysis should consider how the “followers” empower or enable the leaders behaviors (for good or bad).
- Your analysis of how followers can effectively work with a leader with a style that is not consistent with what they desire or a leader they do not admire, which is the more difficult scenario!
- Your recommendations for how leaders can better empower and support followers to ensure that they can meet goal
