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Effective Followership

What Do Leaders Need From Followers?

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If followers don’t do their jobs well, leaders and the organization suffer. One aspect of being a good follower is to understand what leaders want and need.

Leaders should make it clear and discuss what they expect and need from followers. Leaders and organizational situations vary, but here are a few things every good leader wants from their followers:

  • A Can-do Attitude. Leaders want results with no excuses. A leader’s job becomes smoother when they have followers who are positive and self-motivated, who can get things done, who accept responsibility, and who excel at required tasks.

    Leaders value those people who take responsibility when they see something that needs to be done or a problem that needs to be solved. Leaders depend on the ideas and actions of followers.
  • A Collaborative Approach. Leaders are responsible for much more in the organization than any individual follower’s concerns, feelings, and performance. Each follower is a part of the leader’s larger system and should realize that their actions affect the whole.
  • The Personal Drive to Stay Current. Leaders need followers to know what is happening in the organization’s industry or field of endeavor. In addition, they want people to understand their customers, competition, and culture and how changes in technology or world events might affect the organization.
  • The Passion to Drive Personal Growth. Leaders want followers who seek to enhance their own growth and development rather than depending solely on the leader to do it. Improvement efforts might include taking classes or seminars, but there are many other ways people can drive their professional growth.

    Anything that exposes an individual to new people and ideas can enhance personal and professional development. One example is when followers actively network with others inside and outside the organization. Another is when followers take on difficult assignments, which demonstrates a willingness to face challenges, stretch their limits, and learn.

In addition to the above leader expectations listed below are some other behaviors that comprise effective followership:

  • volunteering to handle tasks or help accomplish goals;
  • willingly accepting difficult assignments;
  • exhibiting loyalty to the leader, team, project, and organization;
  • offering suggestions for improvement;
  • maintaining a positive attitude, even in these confusing, difficult times;
  • working effectively as a team member;
  • being a resource for the leader;
  • helping the leader be a better leader;
  • building a professional, trusted relationship with the leader; and
  • having realistic expectations of the leader.
See also:
  1. Kelley, R. E. (1988). In praise of followers. Harvard Business Review, 66(6). 142 – 148.
  2. Garzon, J. M. (2017). Developing the next generation of followers at USAID. Retrieved from https://www.afsa.org/developing-next-generation-followers-usaid
  3. Turner, B. (2008, August 16). A leader with no followers, para. 1. Retrieved from http://pastorbobturner.blogspot.com/2008/08/leader-with-no-followers.html.
  4. Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2013). Followership. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/followership
  5. Kellerman, B. (2008). Followership: How followers are creating change and changing leaders (1st ed.). Boston, MA: Harvard Business, p. 213.
  6. Bennis, W. (2010). Art of followership. Leadership Excellence, 27(1), 3 – 4.
  7. Zaleznik, A. (1965). The dynamics of subordinacy. Harvard Business Review, 43(3), 119 – 131.
  8. Chaleff, I. (2008). Creating new ways of following. In R. E. Riggio, I. Chaleff & J. Lipman-Blumen (Eds.). The art of followership (pp. 65 – 71). Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
  9. Bass, B. M. & Bass, R. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research and managerial applications. New York, NY: Free Press.
  10. Howell, J., & Mendez, M. (2008). Three perspectives on followership. In R. Riggio, I. Chaleff, & J. LipmanBhumen (Eds.), The art of followership: How great followers create great leaders and organizations (pp. 25 – 40). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  11. Tracy, B. (n.d.). The key to leadership. Retrieved from https://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/the-key-to-leadership/
  12. Sims, R. R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
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