Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia

By Beni Bevly
I notice that there are a lot of information, trainings and seminars about leadership, but it is hard to find things regarding followership. I think to achieve the common goals in an organization, followership skills are just as important as leadership skills. That’s why, it is worth it to discuss.

I knew a person who was quite good in leading, that’s why he always wanted to be a leader in any organization, at any situation and at any time. However it did not always come up with the good results because he had some limitations that prevented him to be a good leader at certain situation. One of his weaknesses was lack of delegation skill. For example when there was a need to negotiate with American, he wanted to do it directly himself. At the end, the negotiation did not come up with a pretty result. One of the problems was his language barrier. He coul not communicate very well in English.

At another occasion, when there was a meeting among organizations, discussing a project to be carried out and forming a team. Before the meeting ended, he walked away because no one voted for him as a leader of the team.

These two cases show how he was lack of followership skills. First, a person only understands how to delegate when he know how to be a follower because by delegating means trusting other people to take lead and take a part of his leadership’s portions. In this situation, besides acting as a leader, he also needs to be a follower from a person he delegates.

Second case shows that he did not understand that to achieve a common goal, one does not need to be a leader all the time. Follower also can contribute as much and as important as a leader. There is a time for one to be a good follower.

To master followership skills, at least one needs to know, understands and adjusts himself to the best basic style of followership. Robert Kelly (1992) suggested five basic styles of followership:

First, alienated followers habitually point out all the negative aspects of the organization to others. While alienated followers may set themselves as mavericks who have a healthy skepticism of the organization, leaders often see them as cynical, negative, and adversarial.

Second, conformist followers are the “yes people” of organizations. While very active at doing the organization’s work, they can be dangerous if the orders contradict societal standards of behavior or organizational policy. Often this style is the result of either the demanding and authoritarian style of leader or the overly rigid structure of the organization.

Third, pragmatist followers are rarely committed to their group’s work goals, but they have learned not to make waves. Because they do not like to stick out, pragmatists tend to be mediocre performers who can clog the arteries of many organizations. Because it can be difficult to discern just where they stand on issues, they present an ambiguous image with both positive and negative characteristics. In organizational settings, pragmatists may become experts in mastering the bureaucratic rules which can be used to protect them.

Fourth, passive followers display none of the characteristics of the exemplary follower. They rely on leader to do all the thinking. Furthermore, their work lacks enthusiasm. Lack initiative and a sense of responsibility, passive followers require constant direction. Leaders may see them as lazy, incompetent, or even stupid. Sometimes, however, passive followers adopt this style to help them cope with a leader who expects followers to behave that way.

Fifht, exemplary followers present a consistent picture to both leaders and coworkers of being independent, innovative, and willing to stand up to superior. They apply their talents for the benefit of the organization even when confronted with bureaucratic stumbling blocks or passive or pragmatist coworkers. Effective leaders appreciate the value of exemplary followers and create the conditions that encourage these behaviors.

What type of basic followers are you? I believe most of you are the exemplary followers. These types of followers are the best among other basic followership types. For an example, regarless of what they are pursuing, many Falun Gong followers can be categorized as this type. When it is a time to be a follower, let’s be the exemplary followers, the organization and society will get the full benefit from us.

_____
*Beni Bevly holds BA in Political Science, MBA in Marketing, and is a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) candidate. He is the founder of Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia.