Our newest article is from April Irewole, an Army Lieutenant in the Field Artillery branch. She reminds us of the importance of learning how to follow, stating that idealistically followership is the place where leaders are formed. We hope this starts a conversation that sparks a transformation for you.

The concept of leadership is as old as civilization and is fueled by the innate human desire/need as it were, to aspire. Leadership is a process of social influence which maximizes the effort of others towards the achievement of a goal (Forbes ~2013). This implies in clear terms the requirement of others (followership) for the very concept of leadership to exist. With leadership stemming from social influence, it is safe to say the possession of social currency goes a long way in one’s progression into leadership and the ability to effectively wield influence on and around followers determines how effective a leader one can/will be. Social currency in this case would be a collection of traits and skills combined to the point of influence. Such skills (as we will explore in detail later) include (but are not limited to), Work Ethic, Service, Courage, Good Judgement, Honesty, etc.
Followers create a followership, which in turn is the capacity or willingness to follow (go, proceed or come after) a leader ~ (Merriam-Webster). A followership in the context of leadership could also be defined as the intentional and deliberate use of insight, skills or/and resource in such a manner, it aids or advances the cause of a leader. Margaret Rioch once said that without followers there are no leaders. The opposite is also true, hence the tandem of leadership and followership. Although studied for generations, the dynamics of this relationship remain quite delicate and relatively balanced; a grounding in one undergirds the efficacy of the other. This is the picture I intend to paint as we explore the qualities that are indeed required to function effectively as a follower and a leader.
Seven important qualities needed for followership that evolves into leadership:
Motivation: A good follower is motivated to work hard, do a good job and achieve results. This type of person is driven by the goal of finishing a job.
Courage: Someone with followership skills has the courage to confront their leader with the problems they see with the person in charge.
Service: A follower must see themselves as someone who serves others rather than the priority or the reason something is happening.
Dedication: A good follower is dedicated to their leader. A follower can be loyal and committed to their leader while maintaining judgment and honesty.
Work Ethic: Someone who is a good follower is also a good worker. This person is motivated, committed, and pays attention to the details of the business. This person shows up every day ready to work.
Good Judgment: It is important for a follower to take direction, but they must consider what is being asked of them. To have good judgment, a person must understand the difference between following directions and knowing which instructions are not feasible (and those that are surely unethical). That person must be able to say no to something.
Honesty: As a follower, one makes a commitment to be honest. A follower must understand that while being honest, they also must be polite and respect the people they work with. A follower must be able to provide constructive feedback. ~ (culled from businessnewsdaily.com/9743-followership)
Although not being exhaustive, it quite clear that despite leadership and followership being two different stations, the qualities required in making a success of each station can be applied both ways. This formed the bases of personal experiences from which I have come to conclude followership has to be the training pool/module for leadership. In other words, great followers have a better tendency to make great leaders and not so great followers also have a high possibility of making not so great leaders.
Personally, I have had the opportunity to serve as “The Lead” to multiple teams, and I would say the journey started when I was 11 years old. At that time, I decided to audition for the choir. Fortunately I made the team, but I did not get the solo that I auditioned for. That being my first stumble, I had to dig real deep within to get myself up-to-par. I did eventually and I was included as a backup singer which I did dedicatedly. Day-by-day, I rehearsed and practiced in the background backing-up for different lead singers. Fast forward 10 years later and I am now the lead singer/soloist for a different choir. Needless to say, those years of being a back-up singer (a follower) prepared me for every minute I stepped out on stage to sing as “The Soloist.” Indeed, I could have never been a great lead if I had not been built and skilled in the art of following and understood what it took to lead from the perspective of those following. That was the point in my life where I had to master the art of being a “follower.”
Leadership is defined as “the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal” in a team or group setting. In other instances, leadership is simply about developing people through the means of providing guidance and direction. When leadership says “you can’t lead someone to a place that you’ve never been” this simply implies that to lead people in a certain direction you need to have been there before and know the way to get there. Many would say “you have to learn to be a leader” but I would say “once you learn how to follow, you are on the way to learning how to lead.” Ideally it is in the place of “being led” that leaders are formed. When we capitalize on lessons learned from the place of followership and apply it in the place of leadership the end result yields measurable successes and indirectly contributes to the process that forms new leaders.
And so, the cycle continues…
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