In my opnion both terms are right.It is a closed system, with followers responding to leaders, who themselves adjust in response to this. Leadership and followership is thus an ongoing dance, a dynamic interplay in which each closely monitors the other and responds accordingly.
Followers used to be sheep-like subordinates who did their master’s bidding without question. But, today, they have a far more active and powerful role, with some writers even claiming that leadership can’t be defined without reference to followers.
The meaning of followership is clearly evolving. Gone are the days when people worshipped authority figures without question. It wasn’t too many hundreds of years ago.The concept nowdays is evolving.No one born as a leader and one as a follower and so no one die.Complexity reigns for followership and leadership today, just as it does in all walks of life. The bottom line is that there are still conventional, obedient followers in some industries and simple groups, while followers have more of a partnership role in other organizations and, in some contexts, followers actually show more leadership than their bosses. Leadership is no longer a position at all but an occasional activity. No one can dominate a complex, knowledge-driven group simply because no one has a monopoly on good ideas. Someone who is a follower one minute, therefore, could take the lead the next minute.
The meaning of followership is clearly evolving. Gone are the days when people worshipped authority figures without question. It wasn’t too many hundreds of years ago.The concept nowdays is evolving.No one born as a leader and one as a follower and so no one die.Complexity reigns for followership and leadership today, just as it does in all walks of life. The bottom line is that there are still conventional, obedient followers in some industries and simple groups, while followers have more of a partnership role in other organizations and, in some contexts, followers actually show more leadership than their bosses. Leadership is no longer a position at all but an occasional activity. No one can dominate a complex, knowledge-driven group simply because no one has a monopoly on good ideas. Someone who is a follower one minute, therefore, could take the lead the next minute.
Hi Miranda,
ReplyDeleteIt was funny the comparison with the "ongoing dance".
Leaders create the structure and the right atmosphere to work on their goals.
Followers obey or react over those plans. It is like they can't do without each other.
It is when they react that create change and change the leader that might not approve.
This is actually called a "democracy", that you are leader but you should be approved by followers to continue with your ideas.
Thank You!