Effectively following the effective leaders in an organization is critical for success. This paper will discuss followership and leader characteristics necessary for organizational success. The first section describes the relationship between followership and leadership styles and traits. The second section details the expected styles and traits of a follower and leader in Business Quality Management. The final section details a five-year plan and methods used to enhance personal followership and leadership strengths and areas of improvement.
Relationship between Followership and Leadership Styles and Traits
Organization success hinges on having the right mix of followership and leadership styles and traits. Being an effective …show more content…
al, 2006). Additionally, conformist do not have the independent thinking skills required to consider other options. Finally, their lack of critical thinking skills and inputs to the team allow the possibility of groupthink to occur (Gibbons, 2013). An example of conformist followership is a member who blindly follows direction from leadership without considering better ways of doing business because they lack critical thinking abilities.
Passive followers are the go-with-flow type. They agree with the consensus because it’s the groups view. Additionally, passive followers lack critical thinking attributes that prevent groupthink. Lastly, passive followers may require a lot of motivation and direction to bring out their contribution to the organization (Gibbons, 2013).
Exemplary followers tend to question the status quo or business as usual thinking. Additionally, exemplary followers are critical evaluators and evaluate all facts and options prior to any decision making occurs (Bjugstad et. al, 2006). Further, this type of follower provides independent thinking that is vital to the group think prevention. Lastly, they will back the leader 100% if they agree with the direction of the organization. If they do not agree, they will provide alternatives to the leader and organization to ensure goals are achieved (Gibbons, …show more content…
Leadership experts have examined the leadership styles over time. According to (Martin, 2015), “Leadership is the ability to create of a vision for positive change, help focus resources on right solutions, inspire and motivate others, and provide opportunities for growth and learning”. There are multiple leadership styles documented over time, however a list of the more common styles are listed below (Blanken, 2016) (Skogstad, et. al., 2014) (Rast, et al.,