What is a Good Follower and How Do Leaders Get Them?
Management 310

“What is a ‘good’ follower, and how do effective leaders get them?” was the topic of our group. We researched many online databases and books from the library to adequately answer the topic. Upon reading many articles we found out that leaders and followers are not found in just management scenarios but is found in almost every aspect of business and everyday life. It is very relatable to a parent and a child. We learned that followers and leaders come hand in hand, meaning that without good followers there can’t be effective leaders and vice versa. We were surprised to see how many of the articles used examples in many different situations. The main idea of the article “How to Follow the Leader” is about how a church gave most of their attention to what they call followership. They talk about what followership is; the discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. Leaders do not tell other people what to do, they unify a group of people to overcome their hardest problems and help them keep the faith through difficult times. Good followers also need to stay out of other people’s business and learn when they should not get involved. If someone gets suspended or fired, it is no one else’s business except for the employee, the supervisor, and the employer. Good followers are not always involved in every decision. A good follower does not get involved in something that is none of their business. They wait until a task “with their name on it” comes up and then try and make the best decision they can.
It also mentions that they talk about how a good follower reflects the actions of a good leader and how a good follower should show respect of their leader. They should also show loyalty, honesty, courage, and be enthusiastic. A good follower also includes the leader in work related issues; instead of thinking they can handle it themselves. A good follower also manages themselves well and does not need the leader to tell them what to do all the time. Unhappiness with a situation could lead to unhappiness with the leader, so it is also the leaders’ responsibility to keep their employees, or followers, happy so they will do a good job and work hard for you.
The article helped further understand the idea of leadership and a follower. One of our group members had related this situation to his workplace in the sense that it had a hierarchy of leaders. The relationship between mangers and cashiers in a grocery store strongly represents the idea of followers and leaders. In the workplace everyone had a superior who they had to speak to and worked one in the same. At the bottom of the food chain our group member showed how each level of management had a “leader” and a “follower”. In order for the leader to have good followers they had to have good leaders and so goes the same for followers.
In the article followers are defined as “the discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. It is not submission, but the wise and good care of leaders, done out of a sense of gratitude for their willingness to take on the responsibilities or leadership and a sense of hope and faith in their abilities and potential.” Good followers remain free to think for themselves but recognize a responsibility to help leaders lead well. Without good followers there could be no good leaders.
Good followers recognize that leadership is necessary, important and difficult work. According to the article a leader is not a “title” or a “position” rather it is a function that puts one person into power. Although it is necessary for the health and vitality of organizations, having leaders is a tough and challenging task; having to keep the people happy but at the same time do what is right, “a leader can’t be effective without followers who are willing to take risks”. Even though leaders are the superiors followers still must take