From a distance, it often seems like everyone is enamored with leadership while feeling uncomfortable with followership. However, personality and psychological tests reveal a different story: nearly 80% of people may not be interested in developing leadership skills. Despite this, these individuals can still be exceptional, highly performing, and indispensable. They are a crucial source of information, ideas, and feedback from the front lines, customers, and the ground level. Feedback from followers influences leaders’ goals, strategies, plans, and even work instructions. Statistics also show that 80% of tasks are completed by followers. They not only contribute significantly but also help create the company’s brand image, performance, and quality of products and services.
From my personal experience, a team of great followers with an average leader often outperforms a team of average followers with a good leader.
I have never seen a flawless instruction sheet developed by a leader, especially when the task is influenced by external or site conditions. When followers identify flaws in their leaders’ instruction sheets and report them or initiate corrective actions, this makes them great. When senior followers mentor, train, and transfer knowledge to junior followers, this makes them great. When followers speak positively about the company, take care of company assets such as tools, infrastructure, vehicles, or even consumables, remind their leaders and colleagues of nearly missed deadlines, and assist each other in completing overdue or challenging tasks, this makes them great.
Followers who are proud of their jobs and the company’s achievements are great. When the handover between shifts or replacement followers goes smoothly, this makes them great. Followers who develop easier and faster ways to execute repetitive tasks are great. Those who can work efficiently in the absence of their leader without conflict are truly great.
In an era of easy access to information and global connectivity, knowledge is no longer confined to leaders. This shift has led to the concept of collective or distributed leadership and places responsibility on followers to share information and contribute to continuous improvement. Followers who act this way and accept this responsibility are great followers. The success or failure of an organisation can no longer be attributed solely to leaders. Followers who see themselves as proactive players in their organisations and are conscious of the importance of their roles and contributions are great followers.
It’s worth mentioning that leaders play a significant role in making their followers great. They do this through inspirational communication, sharing vision and values, posing intellectual challenges, paying attention to followers’ feelings, improving motivation and job satisfaction, and keeping followers updated about their contributions and the organisation’s progress toward its ultimate goals.
In the end, leadership and followership are roles, not personas. When each role is performed in alignment with the organisation’s goals, they elevate each other. Only great results prove great performance.
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Dr. Youssef Lamaa
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