Directing and Leadership

Leadership: Leadership is that element of directing that involves motivation and

persuasion in order to achieve the desired goals. A leader is defined as a person
who is able to influence other people and inspires them to follow the instructions
provided. In other words, leadership is the act of leading, guiding and motivating
the subordinates to achieve the organisational goals.

Leadership is a process which managers use to guide, direct, and influence the
work of their subordinates in the desired direction. It is also the ability of the
manager to induce the employees to work confidently and with vigour. In simple
words, leadership skills allow a manager to influence others for the realization of a
goal. Further, leaders must have an eye set on the future and motivate people to
achieve the visions. Keith Davis defines leadership as follows:

“Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives

enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates
it towards goals”.

Leadership refers to the process of motivating and inspiring people to work. It is

essential for the realisation of an organisation’s goals. It includes influencing
people to work for the achievement of a plan or objective. It involves creating an
inspiring vision for the future.

Leadership plays a vital role in direction. A good leadership integrates the interests
of an organisation with the personal goals of its workers. A leader influences the
behaviour of the workers in various ways. He is responsible for setting a clear
vision, motivating the employees and building their morale.

Leaders and their leadership skills play an important role in the growth of
any organization. Leadership refers to the process of influencing the behaviour of
people in a manner that they strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the
achievement of group objectives.
Characteristics of Leadership
 Leadership is an interpersonal process where a manager influences and
guides workers for achieving the organization’s goals.

 A good leader needs to be intelligent, mature, and have a strong personality.

 Leadership is a group process and needs at least two (or more) people
interacting with each other.

 A leader can shape and mold the behaviour of a group in the direction he
wants.

 There are no best leadership styles. A good leader understands that he needs
to tackle the situations as they arise.

Characteristics of a Good Leader

 Communication:-Communication is the most critical tool for success in an
organisation. The characteristics of a good leader include effective
communication. A leader is responsible for transmitting a variety of
information to his workers. Good communication skills can help a leader in
developing a better understanding among the employees.
 Honesty and Integrity:-A leader is successful when he sticks to core
beliefs, values and ethics. Integrity is doing the right thing, which is
important for the success of an organisation. True leadership demands being
fair and honest every time irrespective of the situation.
 Gratitude:-Gratitude helps in increasing self-esteem and reducing
depression and anxiety. Giving thanks at work can help in motivating the
employees to work hard. A person is more willing to work under an
appreciative leader than a thankless boss.
 Influence:-Influencing refers to the ability of convincing people through
emotional and logical appeals. An effective leader must influence and
inspire people with authenticity and transparency. Influence is different from
manipulation, and it requires trust-building and emotional intelligence.
 Respect:-Every employee wants to be treated with respect. A leader must
respect all his workers to ease tension and conflicts. This helps in building
 trust and improving the effectiveness of the employees. To gain respect, a
leader must value his employees and communicate more with them.
 Creative and Innovative:-Creativity and innovation are equally important
characteristics of leadership. In the modern, fast-paced world, constant
innovation and creative ideas are essential for a business to succeed. A
leader must think out of the box. He should have the potential to turn his
goal and innovative ideas into reality.
 Courage:-Leadership involves a vast amount of courage. A good leader
must be able to voice his new ideas and provide feedback to reports. He
must be able to flag concerns for someone with a higher authority. A leader
must never avoid conflicts or problems but face them with courage.
 Learning Agility:-Learning agility refers to the ability to know what to do
in a new situation. It is essential for the success of an organisation. It
involves learning from the experiences and applying those lessons in the
next unfamiliar situations. The traits of a good leader include learning and
having strong learning agility.
 Self Awareness:-A leader needs to understand himself first to lead others. A
person who knows his own strengths and weaknesses can increase his
efficiency and become an excellent leader.
 Vision and Purpose:-A good leader is known for his vision and purpose.
He develops a vision and inspires his followers to work towards the goal.
Sharing his vision helps his followers see the bigger picture and motivates
them to work harder. Having a clear vision is among the most important
qualities of a great leader. Several traits theories of leadership are essential
for leaders to abide and follow. This article includes all the crucial attributes
of a leader. Leaders are the pillar of any organisation, and the qualities of an
effective leader help the business prosper.

Qualities of a Leader
 Personality: A pleasing personality always attracts people. A leader should
also friendly and yet authoritative so that he inspires people to work hard
like him.
 Knowledge: A subordinate looks up to his leader for any suggestion that he
needs. A good leader should thus possess adequate knowledge and
competence in order to influence the subordinates.

 Integrity: A leader needs to possess a high level of integrity and honesty.

He should have a fair outlook and should base his judgment on the facts and
logic. He should be objective and not biased.

 Initiative: A good leader takes initiative to grab the opportunities and not
wait for them and use them to the advantage of the organization.

 Communication skills: A leader needs to be a good communicator so that

he can explain his ideas, policies, and procedures clearly to the people. He
not only needs to be a good speaker but also a good listener, counsellor, and
persuader.

 Motivation skills: A leader needs to be an effective motivator who

understands the needs of the people and motivates them by satisfying those
needs.

 Self-confidence and Will Power: A leader needs to have a high level of

self-confidence and immense will-power and should not lose it even in the
worst situations, else employees will not believe in him.

 Intelligence: A leader needs to be intelligent enough to analyze the pros and

cons of a situation and take a decision accordingly. He also needs to have a
vision and fore-sightedness so that he can predict the future impact of the
decisions taken by him.

 Decisiveness: A leader has to be decisive in managing his work and should

be firm on the decisions are taken by him.

 Social skills: A leader should possess empathy towards others. He should

also be a humanist who also helps the people with their personal problems.
He also needs to possess a sense of responsibility and accountability because
with great authority comes great responsibility.
Features of Leadership
 Influence the behaviour of others: Leadership is an ability of an individual
to influence the behaviour of other employees in the organization to achieve
a common purpose or goal so that they are willingly co-operating with each
other for the fulfillment of the same.

 Inter-personal process: It is an interpersonal process between the leader

and the followers. The relationship between the leader and the followers
decides how efficiently and effectively the targets of the organization would
be met.

 Attainment of common organizational goals: The purpose of leadership is

to guide the people in an organization to work towards the attainment of
common organizational goals. The leader brings the people and their efforts
together to achieve common goals.

 Continuous process: Leadership is a continuous process. A leader has to

guide his employees every time and also monitor them in order to make sure
that their efforts are going in the same direction and that they are not
deviating from their goals.

 Group process: It is a group process that involves two or more people

together interacting with each other. A leader cannot lead without the
followers.

 Dependent on the situation: It is situation bound as it all depends upon

tackling the situations present. Thus, there is no single best style of
leadership.

Importance of Leadership
 Initiating Action: Leadership starts from the very beginning, even before
the work actually starts. A leader is a person who communicates the policies
and plans to the subordinates to start the work.
 Providing Motivation: A leader motivates the employees by giving
them financial and non-financial incentives and gets the work done
efficiently. Motivation is the driving force in an individual’s life.

 Providing guidance: A leader not only supervises the employees but also
guides them in their work. He instructs the subordinates on how to perform
their work effectively so that their efforts don’t get wasted.

 Creating confidence: A leader acknowledges the efforts of the employees,

explains to them their role clearly and guides them to achieve their goals. He
also resolves the complaints and problems of the employees, thereby
building confidence in them regarding the organization.

 Building work environment: A good leader should maintain personal

contacts with the employees and should hear their problems and solve them.
He always listens to the point of view of the employees and in case of
disagreement persuades them to agree with him by giving suitable
clarifications. In case of conflicts, he handles them carefully and does not
allow it to adversely affect the entity. A positive and efficient
work environment helps in stable growth of the organization.

 Co-ordination: A leader reconciles the personal interests of the employees

with the organizational goals and achieves co-ordination in the entity.

 Creating Successors: A leader trains his subordinates in such a manner that

they can succeed him in future easily in his absence. He creates more
leaders.

 Induces change: A leader persuades, clarifies and inspires employees to

accept any change in the organization without much resistance and
discontentment. He makes sure that employees don’t feel insecure about the
changes.
 Leadership Styles
Leadership styles refer to the behavioral approach employed by leaders to
influence, motivate, and direct their followers. A leadership style determines how
leaders implement plans and strategies to accomplish given objectives while
accounting for stakeholder expectations and the wellbeing and soundness of their
team.

Leadership styles have been studied in various fora to establish the appropriate or
most effective leadership style that motivates and influences others to accomplish
set goals. The major tenet of effective leadership style is the degree to which it
builds follower trust.

Studies carried out indicate that followers who trust in their leader are more likely
to follow through with the leader’s instructions over and above the expected. In
turn, they will accomplish set goals while being allowed to speak freely to air their
ideas and suggestions on the direction of the projects at hand.

Leadership Styles
1. Autocratic Leadership:-Autocratic leadership is the direct opposite of
democratic leadership. In this case, the leader makes all decisions on behalf of the
team without taking any input or suggestions from them. The leader holds all
authority and responsibility. They have absolute power and dictate all tasks to be
undertaken. There is no consultation with employees before a decision is made.
After the decision is made, everyone is expected to support the decision made by
the leader. There is often some level of fear of the leader by the team.

The autocratic type of leadership style can be very retrogressive as it fuels

employee disgruntlement since most decisions would not be in the employees’
interests. An example can be a unilateral increase in working hours or a change in
other working conditions unfavorable to employees but made by leadership to
increase production. Without employee consultation, the manager may not be fully
aware of why production is not increasing, thereby resorting to a forced increase in
working hours. It can lead to persistent absenteeism and high employee turnover.
However, autocratic leadership can be an effective approach in cases where the
leader is experienced and knowledgeable about the circumstances surrounding the
decision in question and where the decision needs to be made swiftly. There are
other instances where it is also ideal such as when a decision does not require team
input or an agreement to ensure a successful outcome.

2.Democratic Leadership:-A democratic leadership style is where a leader makes

decisions based on the input received from team members. It is a collaborative and
consultative leadership style where each team member has an opportunity to
contribute to the direction of ongoing projects. However, the leader holds the final
responsibility to make the decision.

Democratic leadership is one of the most popular and effective leadership styles
because of its ability to provide lower-level employees a voice making it equally
important in the organization. It is a style that resembles how decisions are made in
company boardrooms. Democratic leadership can culminate in a vote to make
decisions. Democratic leadership also involves the delegation of authority to other
people who determine work assignments. It utilizes the skills and experiences of
team members in carrying out tasks.

The democratic leadership style encourages creativity and engagement of team

members, which often leads to high job satisfaction and high productivity.
However, establishing a consensus among team members can be time-consuming
and costly, especially in cases where decisions need to be made swiftly.

3. Laissez-Faire Leadership:-Laissez-faire leadership is accurately defined as a

hands-off or passive approach to leadership. Instead, leaders provide their team
members with the necessary tools, information, and resources to carry out their
work tasks. The “let them be” style of leadership entails that a leader steps back
and lets team members work without supervision and free to plan, organize, make
decisions, tackle problems, and complete the assigned projects. The laissez-faire
leadership approach is empowering to employees who are creative, skilled, and
self-motivated. The level of trust and independence given to the team can prove to
be uplifting and productive and can lead to job satisfaction. At the same time, it is
important to keep such a type of leadership in check as chaos and confusion can
quickly ensue if the team is not organized. The team can end up doing completely
different things contrary to what the leader expects. According to research, laissez-
faire leadership is the least satisfying and least effective.
4. Transformational Leadership:-Transformational leadership is all about
transforming the business or groups by inspiring team members to keep increasing
their bar and achieve what they never thought they were capable of.
Transformational leaders expect the best out of their team and push them
consistently until their work, lives, and businesses go through a transformation or
considerable improvement. Transformational leadership is about cultivating
change in organizations and people. The transformation is done by motivating
team members to go beyond their comfort zone and achieve much more than their
perceived capabilities. To be effective, transformational leaders should possess
high levels of integrity, emotional intelligence, a shared vision of the future,
empathy, and good communication skills.

Such a style of leadership is often associated with high growth-oriented

organizations that push boundaries in innovation and productivity. Practically, such
leaders tend to give employees tasks that grow in difficulty and deadlines that keep
getting tighter as time progresses. However, transformational leaders risk losing
track of individual learning curves as some team members may not receive
appropriate coaching and guidance to get through challenging tasks. At the same
time, transformational leaders can lead to high productivity and engagement
through shared trust and vision between the leader and employees.

5. Transactional Leadership:-Transactional leadership is more short-term and

can best be described as a “give and take” kind of transaction. Team members
agree to follow their leader on job acceptance; therefore, it’s a transaction
involving payment for services rendered. Employees are rewarded for exactly the
work they would’ve performed. If you meet a certain target, you receive the bonus
that you’ve been promised. It is especially so in sales and marketing jobs.
Transactional leadership establishes roles and responsibilities for each team
member and encourages the work to be completed as scheduled. There are
instances where incentive programs can be employed over and above regular pay.
In addition to incentives, there are penalties imposed to regulate how work should
be done. Transactional leadership is a more direct way of leadership that eliminates
confusion between leader and subordinate, and tasks are clearly spelled out by the
leader. However, due to its rigid environment and direct expectations, it may curb
creativity and innovation. It can also lead to lower job satisfaction and high
employee turnover.
BASIS FOR TRANSACTIONAL TRANSFORMATIONAL
COMPARISON LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP

Meaning A leadership style that A leadership style in which

employs rewards and the leader employs charisma
punishments for and enthusiasm to inspire his
motivating followers is followers is
Transactional Transformational
Leadership. Leadership.

Concept Leader lays emphasis Leader lays emphasis on the

on his relation with values, ideals, morals and
followers. needs of the followers.

Nature Reactive Proactive

Best suited for Settled Environment Turbulent Environment

Works for Developing the Changing the existing

existing organizational organizational culture.
culture.

Style Bureaucratic Charismatic

How many Only one More than One

leaders are there
in a group?

Focused on Planning and Innovation

Execution

Motivational tool Attracting followers by Stimulating followers by

putting their own self setting group interest as a
interest in the first priority.
place.
6. Bureaucratic Leadership:-Bureaucratic leadership is a “go by the book” type
of leadership. Processes and regulations are followed according to policy with no
room for flexibility. Rules are set on how work should be done, and bureaucratic
leaders ensure that team members follow these procedures meticulously. Input
from employees is considered by the leader; however, it is rejected if it does not
conform to organizational policy. New ideas flow in a trickle, and a lot of red tape
is present. Another characteristic is a hierarchical authority structure implying that
power flows from top to bottom and is assigned to formal titles.

Bureaucratic leadership is often associated with large, “century-old” organizations

where success has come through the employment of traditional practices. Hence,
proposing a new strategy at these organizations is met with fierce resistance,
especially if it is new and innovative. New ideas are viewed as wasteful and
ineffective, or even downright risky. Although there is less control and more
freedom than an autocratic leadership style, there is still no motivation to be
innovative or go the extra mile. It is, therefore, not suitable for young, ambitious
organizations on a growth path. Bureaucratic leadership is suitable for jobs
involving safety risks or managing valuable items such as large amounts of money
or gold. It is also ideal for managing employees who perform routine work.

7. Servant Leadership:-Servant leadership involves a leader being a servant to the

team first before being a leader. A servant leader strives to serve the needs of their
team above their own. It is also a form of leading by example. Servant leaders try
to find ways to develop, elevate and inspire people following their lead to achieve
the best results. Servant leadership requires leaders with high integrity and
munificence. It creates a positive organizational culture and high morale among
team members. It also creates an ethical environment characterized by strong
values and ideals. However, other scholars believe servant leadership may not be
suitable for competitive situations where other leaders compete with servant
leaders. Servant leaders can easily fall behind more ambitious leaders. The servant
leadership style is also criticized for not being agile enough to respond to tight
deadlines and high-velocity organizations or situations.
Leadership and Managership
Manager – An employee of the organization, responsible for its management.
Leader – A person who leads, guides, and directs others. There is always a buzz
when we talk about the terms leader and manager. In an organizational setup,
a manager is an important link between the firm and its stakeholders, i.e.
employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, society, and so forth.
He is the one who performs basic managerial functions.

Conversely, a leader is the one who inspires, encourages, and influences his men,
to work willingly, in the attainment of the organization’s objectives. The two are
not one and the same thing, however, one can only become a successful manager,
when he/she is an effective leader. In this context, what you need to know is that
Leadership is a skill, and the person who possesses this ability is known as a
Leader. On the other hand, Management is a discipline, and the practitioner of this
discipline is known as the Manager.

Difference Between Leadership and Managership

BASIS FOR
LEADER MANAGER
COMPARISON

Meaning A leader is a person who A manager is a

directs, guides and representative of the
influences the behavior organization responsible
of his followers towards for the management of the
the attainment of work of a group of
specific goals. employees and takes
requisite actions whenever
required.

Work Providing direction to Formulating the structure

the employees by of the organization and
creating vision and delegating authority and
communicating it and responsibilities to the
encouraging them to employees.
BASIS FOR
LEADER MANAGER
COMPARISON

reach effortlessly.

Management Performs Performs all five functions

function only one function - - planning, organizing,
direction. staffing, directing, and
controlling.

Authority Informal authority by Formal authority due to

virtue of his/her personal his/her positional role.
qualities

Approach Proactive Reactive

Exists in Both formal and Formal structure only.

informal structure.

Qualities Leadership qualities are Both managerial and

Required required. leadership qualities are
required.

Motivation Intrinsic process Extrinsic Process

Theories of Leadership
1. Behavioral Theory:-The behavioral leadership theory, as the name
suggests, focuses on how leaders behave. More significantly, it postulates
that these traits can be learned by observing and copying other leaders.
Therefore, effective leadership is a learned behavior. In other words, as
opposed to the Trait or Great Man theories, leaders aren't born, they're
made. The behavioral leadership theory puts forth that there are multiple
“styles of leadership,” founded upon specific behavioral patterns. Some of
the styles of leadership include:
  People-oriented leaders: encourage innovation, empower employees, reward
success

 Task-oriented leaders: initiate projects, clarify instructions, organize

processes

 Participative leaders: facilitate communication, take suggestions, foster

collaboration

 Status quo leaders: distribute tasks evenly, enforce company policies, remain
neutral

There are several more styles, but the key idea of this theory is that, in the end, the
actions and actual behaviors of a leader are what define success. Behavioral
leadership theory evolved through behavioral studies of CEOs, project managers,
and other leaders across industries as they responded to situations. The common
result was that successful leaders consistently conformed to the behavioral
standards of one of these leadership styles.

2. Situational theory:-Like the contingency theory, this theory stresses the

importance of situations and believes that a leader is required to adapt to the
changing situations to accomplish goals and make decisions. These leaders
can adapt their leadership styles based on the competency and commitment
level of the employees in their team. According to situational theory,
situational leaders:

 Establish a relationship with employees

 Motivate employees

 Recognise situations that need adapting to different leadership styles

 Develop workgroups and teams

Also, the theory identifies four different leadership styles:

 Telling: Leaders give direction and tell employees what and how to
accomplish.

 Selling: Leaders sell their ideas or concepts to the team.

  Participating: Leaders empower the employees to participate and play an
active role in giving ideas for solving the problem and making decisions.

 Delegating: Leaders limit their participation and delegate most of the

responsibilities to the team. These leaders are always available for
consultation but leave the decision-making to the team.

The theory outlines some critical qualities of a situational leader, including

problem-solving skills, trust, flexibility, insightfulness and coaching.

3. Personality theory:-Personality theories are the result of hypotheses,

experiments, case studies, and clinical research led by scientists in the
psychology and human behavior field. Personality is your unique set of
behaviors, experiences, feelings, and thought patterns that make you you.
While it may change subtly over time, your personality remains fairly
consistent throughout your life after a certain age. Personality theories look
to answer why specific features and traits develop in one person over
another — or develop at all. The goal is to identify what makes everyone so
similar and so different at the same time.
4. Trait theories:-Trait theory is one of the most popular types of personality
theories. It proposes that people’s personalities vary according to which
basic personality traits are more dominant. In this sense, each trait is seen as
a continuum. Take kindness, for example. Rather than viewing this as an
optional personality trait — some people are kind while others are not —
you can think of it as a sliding scale. Everyone falls somewhere on the
kindness continuum. And you’re either more kind or less kind, compared
with someone else. One of the best-known trait theories is the five-factor
theory, also known as the Big 5, proposed by Donald W. Fiske. This theory
states that personality is made up of five distinct traits:

 agreeableness

 conscientiousness

 extraversion

 neuroticism
  openness to experience

Each trait has a range that goes from one extreme to another, and each person falls
somewhere along that range.

 "Great Man" Theory or Trait Theory:-The Great Man Theory of

leadership purports that great leaders are born, not made. It proposes that
there are those who are simply born with the personality traits and attributes
that set them apart and predispose them to great leadership skills. Similar to
the trait theory, it suggests that these traits are responsible for individuals
assuming positions of power. The theory is the result of studies of great
leaders throughout history, mapping both their personality and physical
traits. Some of the natural qualities of a successful leader that have been
identified are:

 Charisma

 Drive to achieve

 Desire to lead

 Integrity

 Confidence

 Intellect

 Political skills

 Business knowledge

 Emotional Maturity

Strong leaders, it claims, fill the "hero mold," possessing courage and the ability to
influence the masses. It maintains that these traits can be observed in leaders across
time, cultures, and locations. As such, all great leaders will share these
characteristics regardless of when and where they lived or what place in history
they held. The theory does allow that leadership is still more art than science. Even
if there are certain inborn qualities that make one a good leader, these natural
talents must be developed and the individual must learn to skillfully apply
leadership techniques. The pushback on the theory is that a great deal of emphasis
is placed on physical characteristics, like height and appearance, in its description
of “great men.” Many of the traits cited are typically masculine traits and are now
viewed as outdated.

FOLLOWERSHIP
Meaning of Follwership

Followership is defined as an intentional practice on the part of the subordinate to

enhance the synergetic interchange between the follower and the leader in the
pursuit of group objectives. It is also defined as the ability to take leader's
directions well, to get in line behind a program, to be a part of a team and to
deliver what is expected of the follower or subordinate.

Followership denotes activities of someone in a subordinate role. Leadership has

no existence without followership. Followership is the relationship that completes
leadership. The success of a leader depends upon the supportive actions of
followers. Effective followers are active participants in setting and attaining the
goals of the team. Thus, followership may be defined as the willingness of the
subordinate to actively participate in working towards the accomplishment of
specified team goals while demonstrating a high degree of interactive teamwork.

Importance of Followership

1. Providing Support to Leadership. Leadership and followership leaders

develop employees into effective followers. Leaders and followers are in a
supportive interwined. Effective followers can shape productive leadership
behaviour just as bond. Leader depends on followers and vice versa. Organisations
fail or succeed partly on the basis of how well their leaders lead, and partly also on
how well their followers follow.

2. Encouraging the Leader. Effective followers are in a sense leading through

their followership role. They keep the leader upright and in rhythm. They ecourage
the leader and create space for risk and improvisation for the attainment of team
goals. They, in fact, create a great experience.
3. Active Engagement. Exemplary followers rank high in both active engagement
and independent critical thinking. They are willing to challenge the team leader by
providing alternative solutions. Through their upward influence, the followers can
create conditions that are conducive to greater stability and higher performance of
the organisation.

4. Facilitating Teamwork. Followership is not a stigma. It is indispenable for any

team to work effectively. No sports team can win games if everyone wants to be
the captain. As effective team members, the followers provide critical thinking and
active contribution to the team goals.

5. Promoting Ethical Behaviour. The followers can challenge unethical behavior

of the leader that is against the interests of the team and organisation. They can
speak up when leader does something wrong to keep him on the right path. It is the
duty of the leader to equip the subordinates with skills and mindset required to be
effective followers.

Traits and Qualities of Effective Followers

1. Competence: A follower cannot follow properly unless he is competent at the

task that is assigned by the leader. It is the obligation of the leader to ensure that
followers are competent. Sometimes, things go wrong because the follower is not
competent at the task at hand. When this happens, leader should blame himself, not
the follower. A sign of poor leadership is blaming followers for not having skills
they should have.

2. Sound Judgement: The follower should have the ability to decide what is right
and what is wrong in a given situation. He should be able to judge whether the
directive given by the leader is in the interest of the organisation or not before
acting on the directive.

3. Honesty: A follower owes the leader an honest and forthright assessment of

what the leader is trying to achieve and how. This is especially the case when the
follower feels the leader's agenda is seriously flawed. He must raise his voice and
give his honest opinion to the leader.
4. Courage: Followers need the courage to be honest. It takes real courage to
confront a leader about concerns with the leader's agenda or worse, the leader
himself.

5. Commitment and Loyalty: The followers must have commitment to the

organisational goals and loyalty towards the organisation. However, loyalty does
not imply blindly siding with the leader. Rather it is a strong allegiance and
commitment to what the organisation is trying to achieve.

6. Independent and Critical Thinking: Effective followers think independently

without any bias. They always think of the well-being of the organisation and
effectiveness of the team of which they are members.

7. Active Engagement: Effective followers don't sit idle. They are actively
engaged in team decisions and performance.

8. Self Motivation: Effective followers are internally motivated to work for the
achievment of organisational goals. They need not be pushed to work. They work
enthusiastically to contribute to goal achievement.

KELLY'S MODEL OF FOLLOWERSHIP

Kelly's model focuses on the role of followers in an organisation and creates a

framework for identifying the different types of followers. Robert Kelly has
proposed five followership style based on two behavioural dimensions:

(i) The degree to which followers think independently and critically i.e.,
independent critical thinking, and

(ii) The level of engangement, whether passive, in or active or passive, in the

organisation.

Thus, Kelly thought about two continuums: the first being independent, critical
thinking versus dependent uncritical thinking; and the second being active versus
passive behaviour. Based on these continuums. Kelly came up with his Five
Followership style model as shown in fig.
1. Exemplary or Star Followers (High Independence, Active): They think
independently, have positive energy and are actively engaged. They exhibit
consistent behaviour with all people, regardless of their power in the organisation
and deal well with conflict and risk. They cope with change, put forward their own
views and stay focused on what the organisation needs. They use their expertise
and resources in the service of the organisation. They don't hesitate to raise their
voice against the leader if he works against the interests of the organisation.

2. Conformist Followers or Yes People (Low Independence, Active): They are

actively engaged, but limited in their thinking. They participate willingly, but don't
question orders of the leader. They keep quiet and avoid conflicts, but defend their
leader with great loyalty. They are also known as 'Yes People' as they are on the
leader's side.
3. Passive Followers (Low Independence, Passive): They prefer their leader to
do the thinking and are minimally engaged. They don't apply their brain enough,
nor do they take concrete action. Robert Kelly called this group 'Sheep' as they are
dependent on the leader and passive. They are motivated by the leader rather than
themselves.

4. Alienated Followers (High Independence, Passive): They do critical thinking,

but lack engagement. Thus, they are poorly engaged critics. They show negative
behavior against the leader. They are bitter in their behaviour because of stagnation
at one post and denial of certain benefits by the leader. They think for themselves
and not the organisation.

5. Pragmatic Followers (Average on Both Dimensions): They take middle

ground with limited impact. They exhibit a minimal level of independent thinking
and engagement. They are more willing to exert energy and get involved when
they see that the situation is headed towards a new direction. They can flip between
different followership styles to suit each situation. That is why, they are also called
survivors. They may question their leader's decision, but not too critically and not
very often. They do enough to just get by in the organisation.

Followers have different personalities and styles. The leader has to build a culture
to promote and support positive followership under which everyone feels
empowered and engaged and is aligned to the organisational goals, feels safe in
raising concerns and steps up to take ownership within their roles.