| Colleges, universities, and scholarly think-tanks generate | | | | 2008 as it was in 1908 and through the end of World |
| countless volumes on leadership and followers in | | | | War II. Moreover, technological advances make |
| relationship to leaders. Seldom do these well endowed | | | | information available to huge populations over the |
| institutions consider leaders in relationship to followers, | | | | internet, organizational intranets, and extranets. The |
| from a followers perspective. As the study of | | | | idea of supervisors and managers withholding |
| followership evolves, its import on organizational | | | | information seems unimaginable in today's corporations. |
| growth grows exponentially. | | | | The internet today is the Gutenberg printing press of |
| Historically, followers were considered workers doing | | | | 1455. |
| the bidding of supervisors and managers. Hierarchy | | | | The shift to followership studies is seen in recent |
| shared only enough information for a worker to do, | | | | organizational studies that focus to the meaningful |
| generally, his job. The worker had no idea how his | | | | work of followers in organizations. Numbers vary, but |
| piece fit into the whole. This industrial age thinking was | | | | researchers generally believe that about 75 to 90 |
| appropriate in the mid nineteenth and early twentieth | | | | percent of organizational accomplishments occur within |
| century as masses of generally less educated | | | | follower groups who receive about ten percent of the |
| farmers and farm workers left agriculture for a more | | | | acknowledgement. The research also assessed |
| secure life style in growing industrial cities. | | | | leaders work in organizations. Although leaders hold |
| Not only adults entered the industrial work arena, but | | | | position and title, most spend approximately 70 percent |
| also businesses employed children as young as | | | | of their work day in follower roles. |
| pre-teen in dangerous and potentially deadly jobs. | | | | Even the great management researcher and teacher, |
| Without lengthy belaboring of child labor and multiple | | | | Warren Bennis, admits that organizations function |
| incidents of death and dismemberment that lead to | | | | because of followers who he calls under-appreciated. |
| strict child labor laws, it is important that there is a link | | | | Further, his research findings explain how important it is |
| between the agricultural migration to cities and child | | | | for leaders to seek needed information from followers |
| labor laws. The puzzle pieces are complex and fitting | | | | while also emphasizing followers must tell the truth, |
| them into an exact pattern is difficult, yet as part of | | | | telling leaders what they need to know not what they |
| the final analysis, the pieces lead to the establishment | | | | want to hear. If you can recall The Four Seasons |
| of public school systems and required minimum | | | | singing Silence is Golden, you can also recall the |
| education standards. Over time, public secondary | | | | concluding lyric line exclaiming, "...but my eyes still see." |
| schools, and public colleges began providing advanced | | | | Followers who see a need for change have an |
| educational opportunities to more masses of people. | | | | obligation to fellow workers, leaders, and the |
| Workers receiving more education began questioning | | | | organization to speak up. In business, silence is not |
| supervisors and managers who sensed their authority | | | | golden, it is lead. |
| over workers shrinking. Workers began knowing and | | | | Is there a reason why scholarly studies on followership |
| understanding their organization and knowing and | | | | do not exist? Are organizations overlooking the |
| understanding their place in their organization. | | | | potential of followers? To the first question, |
| Perhaps an example from the text Atomic: Reforming | | | | followership is under appreciated by leaders. Some |
| the business landscape into the new structures of | | | | studies conducted among organizational followers |
| tomorrow1 will provide a meaningful glimpse of change. | | | | examined how followers felt about leaders thus |
| Most scholars cite Martin Luther as the prime mover | | | | missing an opportunity to study how followers feel |
| of religious reform, the Protestant Reformation. It is | | | | about themselves. To the second question, the answer |
| true that Martin Luther was highly significant for many | | | | may appear a simple yes; however, yes is not simple |
| reasons including translating the bible into the language | | | | and yes is not accurate. |
| of the people. However, another person about 75 | | | | Terms like postindustrial and postmodern may confuse |
| years earlier had a different role that was perhaps | | | | many people who study organizations, their leadership, |
| more formidable. | | | | and their followership. Perhaps researchers apply |
| About 1455, Gutenberg, with his movable type printing | | | | industrial age corporate thinking to postindustrial and |
| press, produced the first print bible. Rather than waiting | | | | postmodern organizations. Research that examines |
| years for a monk to transcribe a bible, manually, word | | | | socio-technical climate of organizations recognize the |
| for word, Gutenberg could set type and reproduce | | | | interconnections of people across industries, regions, |
| hundreds of pages in days. Suddenly, people who | | | | national boundaries, cultures, and languages. The |
| could read, could obtain a print bible. No longer | | | | power of followers as knowledge generators is a new |
| dependent on clergy in the pulpit to interpret scriptural | | | | phenomenon and an untapped resource. One statistic |
| meaning, the power of the clergy was broken. | | | | finds that among ten thousand workers today, |
| Workers receiving an education broke the power of | | | | technology allows them as many as five million |
| supervisors and managers similarly. | | | | potential interconnections. Their ability to share and |
| Martin Luther and Gutenberg did not cause the | | | | gather information make followers knowledge |
| collapse of religion, they changed the face of it. People | | | | generators and innovative problem solvers for their |
| of faith did not stop being faithful, how they practiced | | | | organizations leading to greater efficiency. |
| their faith changed. Workers did not bring down | | | | The Boomer Generation reaching retirement presents |
| organizations, they changed the face of management. | | | | contemporary business with opportunities to seek new |
| Workers continued to work; however, how they | | | | leadership within their existing work force. Developing |
| worked changed. | | | | potential within lets organizations project their values |
| Significant change in religious practice and worker | | | | and vision into the future. |
| behavior did not occur from a top down | | | | Achieving a future projection goes beyond coaching |
| pronouncement. Rather, the significant changes | | | | and beyond training and development. Coaching and |
| occurred from the bottom up, from the follower who | | | | training and development are top down activities |
| became aware that something needed change. In the | | | | assuring that workers know and perform their |
| mid 1800s in England and early 1900s in the U.S., | | | | assigned duties correctly, efficiently, and repeatedly. |
| sociologists and psychologists began studying | | | | Transferring values and vision may appear top down; |
| something called leadership. Leadership was radically | | | | however, the transfer begins bottom up. A worker |
| different from management ideas of command and | | | | who desires upward mobility seeks a leader willing to |
| control. | | | | accept the responsibility of a long-term mentoring |
| These early studies began telling managers that | | | | relationship. |
| Machiavellian practices of power over workers were | | | | Leaders who accept a mentoring role in their |
| not satisfactory to gain worker compliance. They | | | | organization project their interpersonal skills upon a |
| began teaching that workers do so because they | | | | protege developing, over time, a mutual learning |
| want to contribute to the success of an organization. | | | | experience that develops protege skills as the mentor |
| Past thinking emphasized that organizations exist for | | | | learns new skills from the protege. Becoming a |
| people, so they have a place to work. New thinking | | | | protege elevates a follower among peers and |
| began emphasizing that organizations exist because of | | | | elevates a follower among leaders. Although the |
| people who work because they want to. | | | | follower still follows, the follower makes a conscious |
| Leadership was first defined about 1815, and, as | | | | choice to improve work skills, enhance knowledge of |
| already cited, studies of leadership began in the mid | | | | organizational politics, and expand understanding of |
| 1800s. About 1925, one hundred years after leadership | | | | values, vision, and organizational mission. Over time, the |
| as an idea appeared, the first reference to | | | | protege begins acting like a leader from within the |
| followership occurred. Defining followership sounds | | | | ranks of follower. |
| similar to a childhood game called "follow the leader." | | | | Leaders are transient making it an obligation of |
| Followers are an extension of their leaders. | | | | leadership to grow new leaders. The future of |
| Although these teachings were early leadership | | | | organizations is not within existing leaders, rather it lays |
| insights, they were still top down, applicable in the | | | | among the ranks of followers. Part of visionary leading |
| industrial age. Contemporary business is not industrial in | | | | is seeing the future in existing followers. |