Followership

​Across the planet, leadership is a relevant and popular topic. It is heavily researched and widely championed from the time we are children to the end of our lives. But when was the last time you heard a school teacher, a CEO, a pastor, or a manager tout the benefits of being a follower and place that emphasis on equal footing with promoting leaders? “Followership is a process whereby an individual or individuals accept the influence of others to accomplish a common goal.”[1]  It is not a term we hear mentioned often yet it is a very important concept.

The truth is, no organization can or will succeed without willing and capable followers.  There is an ethical component as well for followers are responsible for the morality of their actions and the outcomes they obtain in following.[2] Kelley created a typology that today is the most recognized for its five follower categories.[3]  The least effective followers are passive and look to leaders for direction and motivation. Next are the conformists.  These are “yes” people still looking for direction and guidance. Next are alienated followers who bring negative energy and are self-thinking. Pragmatic followers support the status quo but will not endorse leadership until others do. The fifth category is exemplary followers because they are active and positive yet offer independent constructive criticism. 

Kellerman felt that followers could be identified on a continuum that ranged from isolate, bystander, participant, activist to diehard.[4] Effective followers get the job done, work in the organization’s best interests to accomplish the mission, challenge leaders, support their leaders, and learn from them.[5]
 
Meditation
Numbers 14:24--But since My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.
 
Caleb serves as an example of an exemplary or diehard follower. He set following God as his life conviction and practice. God noted that he had a “different spirit”—one that opposed eight of his cowardly teammates.  Caleb trusted God and His promise to give the Israelites the Promised Land. He set the followership standard we all should emulate. I wonder if Peter had any thoughts about Caleb when he told Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed You” (Mark 10:28). 
 
Inspiration
There are no neutral followers; we either scatter or gather.—John Piper in In Our Joy

 
©2022 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive, these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)
 


[1] Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. (8th ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. P. 295.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kelley, R. E. (1992). The power of followership. Doubleday Business.
[4] Kellerman, B. (2008). Rethinking followership. In R.E. Riggio, Chaleff, I. & Lipman-Blumen, J. (Eds). The art of followership: How great followers create great leaders and organizations. Jossey-Bass.
[5] Carsten, M.K., Harms, P., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2014). Exploring historical perspectives of followership: The need for an expanded view of followers and the follower role. In L.M.Lapierre & R.K. Carsten (Eds.), Followership: What is it and why do people follow? Emerald Group.