NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Followership

In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a group of influential people, such as a union leadership [2] guidance or direction, as in the phrase the emperor is not providing much leadership capacity or ability to lead...

Followership and leadership

(Much of the following view of followership expresses profound dedication to the preservation of status quo social hierarchies, extreme reverence for an aristocratic concept of leadership, and prescriptive repudiation of principles of democratic equality, much of it expressed in a tone deficient in neutrality.) A hierarchy (in Greek hieros, sacred, and arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people. ... The Ancient Greek term aristocracy meant a system of government with rule by the best. This is the first definition given in most dictionaries. ... In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a position of office associated with technical skill or experience, as in a team leader or a chief engineer a group or person in the vanguard of some trend or... This article deals with democracy in general and its various forms. ...

The role of a follower

Followership at first glance seems the antithesis of leadership. The words "subjection", "meekness", and "subtlety" may come to mind when conceptualizing followership. (Compare the important connotations which have attached to the Arabic words islam (in the sense of "submission") and muslim (in the sense of "follower".) The role of a follower, however, in many ways resembles that of a leader. Willingness to tell the truth forms a key ingredient of a "good" follower. Leaders depend on their subordinates for appropriate information. At times this information will prove unwelcome. Followers must have the confidence to speak out. They understand the necessity of the discomfort they may feel while communicating concisely with the leader, and they realise their role in helping the leader make better decisions. Having the fortitude to speak candidly with the leader also comprises a leadership trait. Followers, according to this point of view, must regard silence as unacceptable. In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a position of office associated with technical skill or experience, as in a team leader or a chief engineer a group or person in the vanguard of some trend or... Islam? (Arabic: Ø§Ù„Ø¥Ø³Ù„Ø§Ù… al-islÄm) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ... A Muslim (Arabic: Ù…Ø³Ù„Ù…) is an adherent of Islam. ...

Becoming an "effective" follower within the leader/follower conceptual universe takes just as much work as becoming a leader. Leaders must allegedly recognize the difference between pessimists, individuals just along for the ride, individuals working just for the paycheck, and participants (followers). Such leaders must reward followership. Organizations that clearly communicate guidelines for subordinates (i.e., bureaucracies) will allegedly have more success . Effective followership expectations must be taught (by whom?). Participation in political science is an umbrella term including different means for the public to participate in political decisions. ... Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science. ...

Stated principles of ideal followership

demonstrating respect
thinking win/win
working within the system
acting proactively
appreciating differences
striving toward a common goal (one shared with leaders)
recognizing any authority that leaders may possess
tailoring actions to accord with leaders' ideals
making decisions based on a set of values
enthusiastically working towards organizational goals while nevertheless remaining accountable for results
gaining the trust of leaders
fostering (just) enough independence to allow followers to achieve goals without complete reliance on leaders
requiring only high-level guidance
demonstrating effectiveness when working in a group independently
recognizing the hierarchy of leadership while becoming a self-motivated mini-leader
proactively working to fulfil or exceed expectations

Respect is the objective, unbiased consideration and regard for the rights, values, beliefs and property of all people. ... A system is an assemblage of inter-related elements comprising a unified whole. ... Goal is a graffiti artist who is a member of the crew 1134 http://en. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ... Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies, or actions. ... Accountability has several meanings and is the subject of a broad debate among students of modern governance. ... Trust in sociology is a relationship between people. ...

Evaluating followership

Effective followers may ask themselves leading questions like:

How good are your following skills?
Do you willingly step forward?
Does it really please your leaders to have you on board?
Are you on board?
Do you participate with the leader and the rest of the team in a follower frame of mind or do you spend time criticizing your leader's shortcomings?
Are you willing to follow, to move from where you currently stand?

They may also have conventional answers to these questions. Look up Commitment on Wiktionary, the free dictionary In personal relationships, commitment can be characterised as interaction dominated by obligations. ... A team comprises any group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. ... A critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. ...

Alternative views to followership

Alternative views of co-operation may de-emphasise the cult of "leadership" (and thus of "followership" as well) to bring forward ideals such as equal partnerships, elective loyalty and consensus decision-making leading to shared execution. Some radical extremists actually countenance the adoption of an ancient Greek political perversion which they call "democracy". This page is about the philosophical and semantic background of loyalty. ... For other uses, see Consensus (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Decision_making. ...

Biblical basis for followership

Followership - from a Christian standpoint - should form an important part of the Christian World View. Effective Christians should make effective followers because they act as disciples of God, and thus internalise respect for authority-figures. As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... DISCiPLE, Miles Gordon Technologys first product, was a floppy disk interface for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer. ... The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a Supreme Being in accordance with Christian, Jewish (sometimes as G-d - cf. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ...

Followership has become subtler in the Christian culture - even though the Bible emphasizes following much more than leading. Man’s sinful nature and interest in self-preservation and self-promotion has skewed the average Christian perspective to value leadership more strongly. Christians are directed (by whom?) to follow the teachings of Jesus and of the Bible. Look up Culture on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin... The holy Jewish scripture: The Torah. ... Sin has been a term most usually used in a religious context, and today describes any lack of conformity to the will of God; especially, any willful disregard for the norms revealed by God is a sin. ... // Jesus, or Jesus of Nazareth, also known as Jesus Christ, is Christianitys central figure, both as Messiah and, for most Christians, as God incarnate. ...

Followership and tutelage

(not yet written)

Contents