INITIAL POST Through followership, individuals follow a leader willingly. For example, in organizations, employees are considered followers while team leads, supervisors, and managers are considered leaders. In organizations, most employees willingly accept following leaders to help them achieve their goals.In the table below, from Northouse (2022, p. 354), we can see the typologies of followership. The behaviors associated with these noted typologies describe the behaviors of followers. Source: Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed., pp. 354). Sage Publications. Thinking about followership and its typologies:Reply to at least two peer discussion question post:this is first dis.A followership relationship occurs when an individual accepts the influence of another in order to achieve a common goal. There are many typologies of followership including the following: Zaleznik Typology, Kelly Typology, Chaleff Typology, Kellerman Typology, and others (McKimm, J., & Vogan, C. L., 2020).Zaleznik Typology: provides leaders with insights into their followers, as well as assisting followers in understanding and becoming leaders.Kelly Typology: emphasizes the motivation and behavior of followers.Chaleff Typology: emphasizes the role of followers in the leadership process.Kellerman Typology: asserts that leaders are often overestimated due to their power, influence, and authority, whereas followers are underestimated due to their lack of power and authorityIt is also important to note that followership has an ethical dimension. In the same way, that leadership is not amoral, followership is not a process that has moral neutrality. Being a follower implies a responsibility to consider the morality of one’s actions and the rightness or wrongness of the results of one’s actions. Leaders and followers strive to achieve common goals, and both have a moral obligation to do so (Chaleff, I., 2008).Q1: From each typology (Zaleznik, Kelley, Chaleff and Kellerman), select one behavior that defines a follower:Different scholars have examined the behavior of followers from different perspectives within the field of leadership studies. In 1965, Zaleznik introduced a matrix that classified followers according to their behaviors, and one behavior that stands out is withdrawal, defined as submissiveness and passiveness. According to Kelley, followers are motivated and behave in a particular way, and alienated followers are a prominent type of follower. It can be seen that these followers are disengaged and detached from their leaders and the group as a whole. Chaleff, however, emphasizes the importance of courage among followers, and he encourages followers to act as partners with their leaders. Taking responsibility for the outcomes of their actions involves actively engaging in dialogue and decision-making with their leaders. In Kellerman’s view, followers are subordinates with little power, no authority, and little influence. Participant behavior is particularly relevant in this context. A participant is a follower who actively participates in his or her role, contributes to the goals of the group, and collaborates with his or her leaders and peers. (Carsten, M. K et al., 2014)Overall, these different perspectives shed light on a variety of follower behavior, and it is crucial that both leaders and followers understand and recognize the different types of follower behavior in order to develop a productive and effective relationship.Q2: Explain details about each of the four behaviors that you selected. Then, detail what these behaviors mean when applied in an organizational setting.Based on Zaleznik’s leadership typology, withdrawn followers are not interested in social contact and may actively avoid interacting with others, resulting in minimal participation in work activities beyond what is necessary in order to maintain employment. On the other hand, according to Kelley’s typology, alienated followers possess critical thinking skills but are disengaged from their organization and task, often exhibiting skepticism and negativity towards moving forward. Following Chaleff’s typology, partner behavior is characterized by followers who provide high levels of support and challenge to their leader, taking responsibility for their own actions as well as those of their leader. The Kellerman typology defines participants as individuals who may support or oppose the leader on certain issues, such as a new company policy (Zaleznik, A., 2008).When applied in an organizational setting, these behaviors can contribute to a positive and dynamic work environment, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Generative leaders who challenge the status quo, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, and model the way can increase employee engagement, align employees with the organization’s goals and mission, and improve overall organizational performance and outcomes.Q3: Determine which leadership style is best suited for each of the selected follower’s behavior and why.The most appropriate leadership style for withdrawn followers is a transformational style, while the most appropriate leadership style for alienated followers is a transactional style. This is the reason why transformational leadership encourages followers to think outside the box and solve problems. Leadership that is transactional is characterized by rewards and punishments. It is important to involve followers and to allow them to make decisions through a participatory approach.Q4: Give an example of where (type of job or organization) the follower’s behaviors that you selected will be most effective.According to my observations, the most appropriate job for followers’ behavior is:The withdrawn behavior: Librarian or a data entry operatoralienated followers: accounting clerk.Partner follower: teacher.Participating follower: salesperson. This is the second dis.Introduction of FollowershipFollowership depicts an individual who accepts the instructions of their superiors, executives or the leaders within the organization willingly in order to achieve the collective goals developed by the seniors of that organization. Those followers are considered effective who balance their responsibilities and relationship with their leaders and complete their projects and tasks assigned to them punctually and timely (Northouse, 2022).Followers Behaviors According to TypologiesPragmatist- The pragmatist followers have moderate involvement and engagement in organizational matters. These kinds of followers have a moderate kind of critical and logical thinking. They wait for the outcomes and then take action (Lovelace et al., 2019).Impulsive – The impulsive followers are stubborn and try to lead just like the leaders. They are unprompted and courageous. (Lovelace et al., 2019).Partners- These followers act like the leaders’ partners as they support the leaders and assist them in each decision (Imoukhuede, 2022).Bystander – These kinds of followers are passive, and they stay on the side and are not involved and engaged in organizational matters (Sage, 2019).Explanation of BehaviorsThere are kinds of followers who possess pragmatic behaviour. The pragmatists are a moderate kind of attitude, and they are not much involved in the organizational matters. The pragmatists are not much brilliant and are moderate critical thinkers. The pragmatists do not take instant actions; they wait for the outcomes and then take the actions to sort the things. Furthermore, the impulsive followers are very stubborn and rebellious, and they try to lead with the leaders (Sage, 2019).These kinds of followers are very courageous but display a negative attitude. Partners are placed in the equal position of the leader because they support and facilitate the leader in every matter. The partners stay with the leaders and assist them just like the partners. Some followers do not interfere in any matter and stay aside. The bystanders are not involved and engaged in organizational matters because they possess low confidence and stay away from the matters. Bystanders finish their assigned tasks and do not participate in any other matters (Sage, 2019).Organizational SettingThere are different behaviours of followers, which have been discussed above, and these behaviours have a significant impact on the organizational setting because, in many studies, it has been shown that the relationship between the leader and follower has a significant impact on the achievement of the organizational objectives. These behaviours indicate that the selected followers have the capability to follow the instructions of their leaders when they obey their superiors, and they become more adaptive and supportive of their peers; all these traits allow them to develop a positive culture at the workplace (Epitropaki et al., 2020).Best suited leadership style for each behaviourTransactional leadership is best suited for followers who are less confident and unmotivated. The transactional leadership style is best suited for bystanders. These followers are unmotivated and do not participate in any activity; the leader will provide the direction and rewards for their extra efforts as a motivational medium. The authoritarian leadership style is best suited for impulsive followers. The democratic or participative leadership style is best suited for the pragmatists, as this leader encourages their followers to participate. Democratic leaders ask their followers for feedback and ideas to be actively engaged. The transformational leadership style is best suited for partners, as they inspire and motivate the followers for their contribution and support (Becker, 2020).
