Sarah Stuart: The importance of being a follower

Photo / Thinkstock

This semester, me. Three-quarters of the way through this degree, juggling home, paid work and study, beginning a new large project and having the energy not just to manage it but lead the team, seems a weary step too far.

MBA courses are designed to, among other things, help create leaders - you don't sign up for an MBA to be a follower, right? But right now I'd like a lie down.

So my cheerful South American colleague put his hand up for our international assignment project and now he's in charge. I'm an eager and relieved follower.

What I should be, however, is an exemplary one. Studying leadership this semester isn't all transformational versus narcissistic leaders, trait theory and influence tactics. Followership is now accepted as a crucial role in organisational success - as important for corporates as the man (and occasional woman) in charge.

'Excellent followership', however, is more than just getting in behind a project, taking direction well, being a team player and delivering on expected outcomes; It is a much more active role. Without those who choose to follow, there can be no leader. In fact much of the literature believes that followers create their leader, that great followers create great leaders and, in turn, great organisations.

Problem is, no one likes to think that's their role. "We all know instinctively that we will spend most of our life as a follower and only a small portion of it as a leader," our course text states, "but it is not something that we are generally proud to admit."

That may be because of the word 'following' evokes passivity, mediocrity, lack of drive, even laziness.

But the new definition of followership calls for judgment - knowing when to follow directions and when to speak up if they are unethical or improper; the courage to be honest not only about a leader's agenda or direction but sometimes the leader themselves; and ego-management, where goal achievement and performance come before personal recognition.

Of course a great work ethic, competence at your job, the ability to lead when required, self-awareness and the ability to modify your behaviour accordingly plus the willingness to not only question and challenge but to be questioned and challenged yourself, are all excellent attributes for a follower.

They are, unsurprisingly, also great attributes for a leader. Perhaps it is simply the act of deciding to be a great follower that makes the real difference, something that many of us find innately difficult, not least in such an egalitarian society as New Zealand.

I like the new definitions of an active and courageous follower. I like the act of choosing to do it. It feels empowering, perhaps even more appealing than the lonely life of a leader.

Leadership in this new way of thinking is a process co-created in interactions between people, though even courageous and active followers must choose to defer in some way. Some scholars call this "granting a leader identity to another and claiming a follower identity for oneself'. Others say if leaders are influencers, then followers allow themselves to be influenced.

So Jerry, I am choosing to do your bidding and to challenge and question you without fear while leaving my ego at the meeting-room door and working not for personal glory but for the outcomes agreed as a team. Lead me. And I will follow.