According to Merriam Webster, followership is “the capacity or willingness to follow a leader”. This is a very simple definition for a complex set of behaviors and beliefs. Not only must a follower be willing to follow, but he/she must also possess a very distinctive group of characteristics in order to be successful. An organization is only as strong and ultimately as successful as those individuals in supporting roles. Leaders, according to Robert Kelley in his essay Followership in a Leadership World, are responsible for only roughly 10 percent of the successful outcomes in an organization while the followers are responsible for the remaining 90 percent. We (anyone who has ever spent any time at all in the role of a follower) know that the real work gets done in the trenches. Let’s look at what it takes to be a great follower.

Why would anyone choose to be a follower when the world revolves around leadership?. I believe it depends on your perspective. We are all leaders in some fashion and we all contribute to the betterment of the organization in some critical way. To be a great follower simply means you understand the goals of the organization, the goals of leadership, your own personal goals, and are committed to doing whatever you can to ensure they are all met successfully. In other words, you really “get” how you fit into the organization, and what value you bring. You understand that a table cannot stand without the proper supporting legs, and every piece of a puzzle is unique yet critical to the completion of the “picture”. You must be independent enough to offer viable/critical/unpopular feedback yet cooperative enough to put your ego in your back pocket and work well in a supportive, team environment.

Kelley has defined four different types of followership styles, alienated, sheep, yes-people, and exemplary. The alienated and sheep followers are considered passive and more negative than the active yes-people and exemplary followers. I believe my followership style has probably hit each quadrant over the many years of my career depending on how I viewed my place in the organization. Early on I was a sheep and a yes-person, just going along to get along, and learning the ropes. During the most positive and most productive (translated as loved my job and felt valued) times I was definitely an exemplary follower. Those periods where I felt under appreciated, over worked, etc., I am not proud to admit that I was indeed an alienated follower. I recently resigned my position in an organization I believe in wholeheartedly due to ethical concerns and a lack of productive, respectful communication from the President of the company. It was heartbreaking and it took me nearly a year to come to the realization that the person I was following was expecting us all to go in a direction in complete opposition to the vision and mission of the non-profit organization we supported. Kelley mentions in his essay that you have to be prepared to stand alone if all else fails. Raising questions as to the integrity and ethics of decisions made above your head is a slippery slope. You find out who has the best interests of the organization in mind and who has their own best interests in mind and I found myself standing alone. So be it. I would rather stand up against something that is wrong that go along with it and have to live with myself for staying silent. Despite the situation, I truly believe that I was an exemplary follower.

Barbara Kellerman, in her book Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders, has proposed five categories of followers. The categories differ based on the level of engagement (Isolates, Bystanders, Participants, Activists, Diehards) and range from the completely detached employee who cares nothing for the leader or the organization to those who are prepared to do literally anything for the cause. As with my followership style, I believe I have certainly spent time in each of these categories over the years. I have spent time recently really thinking about how my level of engagement corresponds to the leadership style of my direct supervisor and I have to say there is a definite correlation. I have been the happiest in my career when working for a leader who is engaged, communicative, realistic, credible, and committed. If I strongly believed in what they were selling, I was an Activist, no doubt. I don’t believe I have ever been a Diehard, however, as I have always had some greater calling whether it be motherhood, or volunteering that kept me from sinking everything I was into my work.

In evaluating my followership style, several things have come to mind, namely a few strengths and weaknesses in my followership behaviors. Let’s assume the best situation and my most engaged period of followership as we discuss Kelley’s seven key areas of exemplary followership. The first two are proactivity and fact gathering. I would rate myself moderately high here, as I am a planner. I want as much information as I can get ahead of time in order to be able to change gears quickly or derail a potential issue. If I run into problems I have no concerns with seeking advice from either respected colleagues or my supervisor, which is number three. I like structure, rules, and policies and believe you cannot run an efficient organization without operating within the established framework and in order to be able to do so (as a follower and as a leader) you must speak the language, numbers four and five. So far I am doing pretty good, giving myself high marks in these first five areas, however the next two have certainly held some angst for me. I have been in numerous situations where I had a disagreement of conscience with someone in a leadership position. Some have ended well, some in stale mates and a few in stand-offs in which I had to choose to give in or walk away. The courage to stand up to a corporate leader does not come easily, nor in my experience come without cost. I believe I have backed down at times when I should have stood my ground and there have been times when I should have chosen another hill to die on. I suppose all we can do is what we feel is right at the moment and not torture ourselves over what we should have or could have done. The final area, one that I have recently experienced, is to either take collective action or plan well to stand alone. I should honestly rate myself higher in this area but I feel as though I should have made my stand long before I did when I realized the collective action was not going to work. Again, experience and hindsight make us all experts at evaluating our decision points in life, however we can only do what we feel is right at the moment.

The best followers are those who feel strongly about and support their leaders and act accordingly. They are enthusiastic, engaged, competent, and invested in both people and processes. Effective leadership hinges on having a solid supporting structure. In my opinion, there are no true leaders without exemplary followers.