The business world is obsessed with leadership. Google “leadership” and you’ll get many thousands of results. But what about those who are being led? What about the followers? Knowing how to follow is equally important but if you search for “followership” online there is much less to find.
No one goes to Harvard to learn how to follow, yet it is the other side of the leadership coin. If we apply this notion to business, while leadership may be the behaviour in focus it is followership that dominates most of our working lives and is the crucial secret skill of success.
Understanding the skills needed to follow well are important in their own right and also make us better leaders. Knowledge of effective followership enables leaders to fulfil their responsibilities effectively, demonstrating empathy, knowing what motivates others and communicating well.
What is followership and why is it important?
It’s useful to define what we mean by followership. In brief, it is the ability to take direction well, to align behind a programme or project, to be part of a team and to deliver on what is expected of you.
It is not just about behaviour but also mindset. It also enables followers to hold their leaders to account.
Characteristics of effective followership
Despite followership not receiving the same attention as leadership, the difference between effective and ineffective followership behaviours was codified as far back as 1988, in a seminal article in the Harvard Business Review by Robert Kelley.
In this piece, Kelley set out the difference between effective and ineffective followership behaviours in the following way:
• Ineffective followership behaviours
This often takes the form of team members sitting around waiting to be told what to do and being reluctant to take the initiative.
Going a step further, it could manifest as what Kelley calls “survivor” behaviour, which is when you’re perfectly capable and have a good brain but have chosen to switch yourself off to just get through the day and do the bare minimum.
Perhaps the worst of the ineffective behaviours is when you are angry and complaining vocally, not caring who knows how you feel. This behaviour can become subversive and start to sow dissent.
Effective behaviours, by contrast, include:
- The ability to think for themselves
- Take initiative within mutually understood boundaries without the need to be constantly seeking permission
- Willingness to take a degree of risk
- Ability to use their own judgement
- Being comfortable putting their hand up and saying when they don’t know something
- Being capable to operate independently
- Hunger to expand their level of competence
That last point is important, because effective followers often strive to increase their competence – to stretch themselves, learn more and develop by asking for more challenging tasks, or for mentorship.
Indeed, it is the ability to switch roles, to change priorities, to offer support, that could be said to define effective followership. This is what people in high performing teams do – they’re typically able to switch between roles very easily.
How do we create a culture where effective followership behaviour thrives in a hybrid working world?
Leadership plays a key role in nurturing effective followership. If you create the conditions for effective followership to thrive, through your leadership, then it will thrive. If you create the conditions for survivorship, then those behaviours will thrive. It’s up to you what you create.
With the rise of new ways of working – hybrid working in particular – your leadership plays a more important role than ever. People have a choice about how hard they work. They have a choice about what they spend time on and what they prioritise.
Discretionary effort is ultimately what it’s all about. Your effective followers are really comfortable providing you discretionary effort. They’re also really comfortable turning around and telling you when they’re maxed out or in danger of burnout. You can trust them in this context, because they’ve got a good track record of being honest, trustworthy, reliable individuals who tell you the truth. If they say they’re maxed out, then the chances are, they’re maxed out.
Of course, if you care about your team member, you will be receptive to the signs of overwork and potential burnout. If you notice that they are working through weekends or sending emails at 5.30am and at 9.30pm, it’s time to talk to them about creating a better work-life balance. It’s time to see how you can support them.
In short, you need to care about your people. To support them. To listen to them. To respond when they come to you with challenges. Do this, and you will foster a relationship based on trust. They will repay in kind with increased productivity and discretionary effort.
Here we’ve gone full circle back to the importance of good leadership. You get the followership that your leadership style deserves: it doesn’t just happen. Remember the earlier point about the military: that good leaders serve their followers. As a leader, you are there to provide your people with everything they need to do the job for you, from equipment and tools to motivation and purpose: a reason for getting out of bed in the morning.
If you give all your people all the things they need to be brilliant, then you’ll get effective followership. Without this, no leader can succeed. With it, no leader can fail.