Imagine going to work and having a question for your supervisor about a specific assignment or project. The question that you have for your leader makes them believe that you demonstrate a lower level of followership, so they begin to get more involved in that particular project. As the leader gets more involved, the confidence and demeanor of the follower start to decline, so they have the opinion that they are to defer to the supervisor more often. According to Obolensky (2014), these actions begin to create a vicious circle of leadership that can become harmful to an organization. This vicious circle can begin to affect both the follower and leader negatively. But how can the circle be approved upon or even eliminated?
How would you feel if you believed that all decisions must be approved by your supervisor before going forward? How would this affect your relationship with your supervisor and the culture of the organization? The first area that this circle affects in an organization is trust, which is very important. If supervisors do not feel like they can trust their followers and vice versa then the relationship is going to be damaged. According to Horsager (2012), “Trust affects a leader’s impact and the company’s bottom line more than any other single thing” (para. 1). If a leader is not able to trust that the follower can do their assignments correctly then they will not allow the follower to be empowered. Another negative of this vicious circle from the eyes of the leader is the wasted time and effort it takes to babysit your followers. If a supervisor is taking time away from their job duties to double check the work of the followers then both time and money are lost.
This circle can also have a looming effect on the follower. If the follower begins to believe that their supervisor must be informed before each decision then their confidence begins to weaken. Obolensky (2014) described five levels of followership including wait to be told, ask to be told, seek approval for a recommendation, seek approval for action undertaken, and get on and inform in a routine way. When the confidence of a follower is shaken, they will never be more than a level three follower. They will never exceed the seek approval for a recommendation level. The effects on a company range from mistrust, lack of empowerment, decline in morale, and possible decline of skills and attitude in the eyes of the follower. If they feel like their actions and decisions are moot then they will eventually stop offering.
If I would have addressed this topic several months ago, I would have incorrectly responded that this circle was not present in my organization, or at least not in my department. Most of the accountants in my department are seasoned and have been in the department for numerous years. Also, I had worked in the same area of the department under the same leader for several years so the trust between us and my level of followership was fairly high. I saw myself as a level-four follower where I would take action before seeking approval. But two things have recently happened that changed my opinion. First, we got a new computer system that changed nearly every process in the department. When norms and processes are altered even the seasoned veterans begin to rely more on their leaders. I would not go as far to say that the circle was created, but it was evident that followers began to ask advice at an escalated pace.
The second event that occurred over the last couple of months was that I was transferred to a different area in the department. Obolensky (2014) warned that the level of followership or level or skill/will can change in accordance with events at an organization. Being asked to transfer to a new area affected both my level of followership and skill. I no longer knew the processes and what to do on a daily basis, which caused me to ask more questions. This has created a circle where my new leader has been forced to take a more hands-on approach lowering my confidence. Over the six years I was in my prior position, I had been exposed to nearly everything that could happen and had a response and process to handle the event. Also, the individual that I recently replaced had been in the position for several years and had built a rapport with the supervisor, creating a less hands-on approach. The transfer has been difficult for both of us, but we must trust the process and understand it will work itself out. With time I will begin to ask for less advice and the trust and confidence will begin to escalate.
So, if the vicious circle of leadership is common but also harmful to organizations how can it be stopped? What can an organization do to promote stronger followership or even leadership at the lower levels of the organization? I believe leadership begins with trust and confidence, so the organization must begin to build the confidence of the followers. No matter the department, sales, engineering, marketing, accounting, all departments must have confident followers to promote leaders. If the followers do not believe they will succeed then they will never succeed. Confidence is created through training. The followers must be trained properly to make sure they know all aspects of the job. Also, knowledge must flow from top to bottom. I have worked in organizations where knowledge is kept by leaders creating a trust issue. Some leaders feel as they should keep certain knowledge hidden away in a secret chest in order to gain power over their followers. In my experience, this does not work out well for the leader or follower.
Another element to creating greater followers is open communication at all levels of the organization. The followers are the individuals on the front lines so allowing their input on strategy and processes should be welcomed in the culture of the organizations. Organizations who rely only on top level management to make all decisions could be leading the organization to emanate death. Empowerment should also be welcomed by leadership. Followers who are allowed to have decisions about how their work can be done are more confident and have a greater sense of morale.
If I were to recreate the circle of leadership, I actually would not change many of the steps but the impact of each step would be different. Obolensky (2014) stated that “behavior breeds behavior” (p. 161). So I believe that increased followership begins at the top. In honoring open communication and knowledge flowing from top down, the follower should still ask for advice. But instead of the leader getting concerned about the level of followership exhibited and taking a more hands-on approach leading to a decline of confidence for the follower, the leader and follower could then discuss together the options that could be taken to correct the issue. If the follower and leader were able to work together as a team then the follower does not have to lose their confidence. If the leader and follower worked as equals and open communication is utilized, the confidence of the follower should increase instead of decrease. My altered circle of leadership would be: follower asks for advice, the leader takes an opportunity to share knowledge with the follower, the follower’s confidence increases, trust between the follower and the leader becomes stronger and the follower’s level of followership begins to increase.
References
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership (2nd. Ed.). Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing
Horsager, D. (2012). You can't be a great leader without trust. Here's how you build It. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/10/24/you-cant-be-a-great-leader-without-trust-heres-how-you-build-it/
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