Follower as Change Agent
Peter Northouse wrote the Book Leadership. This book is an in-depth look at the theory and practice of leadership. It is filled with case studies and research round the various aspects of leadership. There is too much to cover in one blog post, so this blog I will focus on chapter 13, Followership.
Leaders Require Followers
The idea of leaders needing followers is one that is arguably well known. “You can not have leaders without followers”(352) If you are a leader you need to lead someone and they have a role to play in the process. What that role looks like can vary depending on the approach a leader takes and the lens in which they view the follower. There is a relationship that occurs between the leader and the followers.”The process of leading requires the process of following. Leaders and followers together create the leadership relationship , and without an understanding of the process of following, our understanding of leadership is incomplete.(352)
Follower… A Weakness
How often have you heard or maybe even been told, “Stop being a follower!”? Often our images of followers are seen as a negative, as a weakness. It is better to be the leader who has the power. Our view of a follower can shape how we view their role in the process of leadership. If we view the follower as a positive role to hold we may see them as a part of a team working towards an end goal together. The negative view of this role may see followers just mindlessly following the leader into trouble. Northouse gives us the definition “Followership is a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal.” (353) There is an element of power difference that occurs but this does not indicate weakness in its self. There are many characteristics, motivations, and understandings of followership that make it as dynamic of a role as leadership.
The Change Agent
Northouse suggests that followers can actually have an affect on the leadership process. “Reversing the lens is an approach to followership that addresses followers in a manner opposite of the way they have been studies in most prior leadership research. Rather than focusing on how followers are affected by leaders, it focuses on how followers affect leaders and organizational outcomes. Reversing the lens emphasizes that followers can be change agents.” (363) Followers have value in the leadership process and that value can have real impact and meaning on the end goal that both the leader and the followers are working towards. We should not underestimate the role of the follower.
What does it look like for us to consider followers as change agents? How does leadership look different when we acknowledge the power of being a follower in a positive way rather than in a negative way. Shifting our lenses, viewing things differently can lead to growth and lead to new ways of leading. Leaders are tasked with the job of always growing and developing, being open to change not just change they want to to implement but change with in themselves and they own views. Leaders who can embrace this internal change and see even their followers in new and different ways may just be the leaders that are worth following.
- Peter G, Northouse, Leadership: Theory & Practice, Ninth ed. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2022).
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