{"id":21300,"date":"2019-02-07T22:02:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T06:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=21300"},"modified":"2019-02-07T22:02:39","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T06:02:39","slug":"wrestling-with-followership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wrestling-with-followership\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrestling with Followership"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I stumbled upon Derek Silver\u2019s TED Talk on how to start a movement.[1]<\/a> In this TED talk, he talks about the fact that in order to be a leader, you have to have at least one follower. He says, \u201cThe first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.\u201d[2]<\/a> I couldn\u2019t help but have this playing through my head while I was reading The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective<\/em> by Dennis Tourish.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dennis Tourish is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Studies at the University of Sussex, as well as journal editor and fellow of various foundations.[3]<\/a> A particular area of interest for Tourish centers around cults, which is displayed prominently in The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership<\/em>.[4]<\/a> His expertise in leadership and specific area of interest in cults well position him to understand and deconstruct transformational leadership, and what it means to center a leader at the very middle and heart of any organization or business.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This book is centered in three parts. The first really digs deep into the understanding of leadership as a whole, and pays specific attention to transformational leadership. Tourish alludes to the works of Burns in defining \u201ctransformational leadership\u201d and says, \u201cThe leader is encouraged to change the goals of followers, subordinates or (in the case of cults) devoted members. Put in its most positive form, the new goals are assumed to be of a higher level in that, once transformed, they represent the \u2018collective good or pooled interests of leaders and followers.\u2019\u201d[5]<\/a> Essentially, the danger of transformational leadership boils down to an excess of agency and power that is granted to leaders.[6]<\/a> The second portion of the book, Tourish examines a four different case studies and how dangerous adherence to transformational leadership and power dynamics can be. Finally, the third portion of the book offers readers his own theories on how to reimagine the relationships between leaders and followers.[7]<\/a> Tourish recommends to always take context of leadership into practice[8]<\/a>, share the victory and defeat with followers[9]<\/a>, and give more emphasis on the role of followership, as opposed to an infatuation with leadership.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This brings me back to Derek Silver. This video, if you haven\u2019t seen it, highlights a shirtless man dancing at a concert. Silver starts by highlighting the leader but quickly moves on to the role of the first follower. The dancing man at the concert quickly brings his first follower in to his dance, which helps it become less about him, and more about \u201cthem\u201d, the plural of the two together. \u201cIt\u2019s important to show not just the leader, but the followers, because you find that new followers follow the followers, not the leader.\u201d[11]<\/a> He says that the biggest lesson is that leadership is over glorified; The first follower is really the one who transforms the leader into a movement.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I was reading Tourish, specifically the chapter on \u201cLeadership, group suicide and mass murder: Jonestown and Heaven\u2019s Gate through the looking glass\u201d, I spent a lot of time thinking about the followers. While I understand this is a book on leaders, I found the followers to be fascinating. Tourish said, \u201cMost of this who stumbled into his (Jones) orbit were looking for spiritual answers, hope and a sense of community.\u201d[13]<\/a> So many of these followers found themselves in controlled situations, consisting of \u201cbounded choice\u201d[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It hit me when Tourish said, \u201cThe job of the followers is to obey. Whatever difficulties arise in reaching the group\u2019s ever elusive goals are invariable blamed on the limited commitment of the members, rather than on the feebleness of the group\u2019s leaders or the weaknesses of it\u2019s ideology.\u201d[15]<\/a> It\u2019s so much like Jesus versus the Pharisees. The Pharisees kept drawing boundaries and giving those around them a bounded choice, where Jesus came to throw all that out the door with a table flip. Honestly, I\u2019m not totally sure how to end this, but to highlight the fact that I\u2019m wrestling with all this. How are we pointing people to Jesus, and not to us as the followers? How are we reminding people that God gave us freedom of choice, not a bounded one? How are we remembering the context of Scripture as we examine our own leadership roles? And finally, as followers, are we consistently giving up the power and agency to the One who gave us that power first?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Derek Silvers, \u201cHow to Start a Movement,\u201d produced by TED, February 2010, video, 3:03, https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Derek Silvers, Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cProf Dennis Tourish\u201d, University of Sussex, accessed on February 7, 2019, http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/profiles\/410361<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Michael Walton, \u201cReview: The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective,\u201d Industrial and Commercial Training 45, no. 6 (2013): 369-370. https:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full\/10.1108\/DLO-12-2013-0098<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Dennis Tourish, The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective<\/em> (Sussex: Routledge, 2013), 20.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 21<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Suze Wilson, \u201cBook Review: The dark side of transformational leadership; A critical perspective,\u201d Organization 22, no. 1 (January 2015): 150-152<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Dennis Tourish, The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective<\/em> (Sussex: Routledge, 2013), 213.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 214.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 214.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Derek Silvers, \u201cHow to Start a Movement,\u201d produced by TED, February 2010, video, 3:03, https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Derek Silvers, Ibid.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Dennis Tourish, The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective<\/em> (Sussex: Routledge, 2013), 159.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid., 162.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ibid., 162.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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