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As I shared earlier, I’m reading The Art of Followership (you can read the section in the book (page 7-8) via Amazon) and I just had to jot these notes down on one section. It’s amazing, I can definitely see these 5 roles in the various workplaces I’ve been, including in myself. What do you think? Accurate or not?

There are 5 basic styles of followership:

The Sheep. Sheep are passive and look to the leader to do the thinking for them and to motivate them. If you are the boss and in your car on the way to work, and you’re thinking about what you’re going to get your workers to do and how you’re going to do that, then you’re dealing with sheep.

The Yes-People. Yes people are positive, always on the leader’s side, but still looking to the leader for the thinking, the direction, the vision. If the leader asks them to do something, they’ve got the energy and they’ll go forward with it. When they finish that task, they’ll come back to the leader, asking “What do you want me to do next?” Yes-people will say, “I’m a doer; that’s my job. The boss gets paid to think, and I’m the one who does the work.”

The Alienated. Alienated followers think for themselves, but have a lot of negative energy. Every time the leader or organization tries to move forward, there are the ones who have ten reasons why the leader or organization shouldn’t. They are not coming up with the next solution, but are skeptical, cynical about the current plan of action. They see themselves as the mavericks, the only people in the organization who have the guts to stand up to the boss.

The Pragmatics. Pragmatics sit on the fence and see which way the wind blows. They’ll never be the first on board, but they will never let the leader or organization leave without them. They see themselves as preservers of the status quo. Their internal diaologue goes something like this: If I got all excited every time there was a new leader or a change of direction, my wheels would be spinning constantly.”

The Star Followers. Start followers think for themselves, are very active, and have very positive energy. They do not accept the leader’s decision without their own independent evaluation of its soundness. If they agree with the leader they give full support. If they disagree, they challenge the leader, offering constructive alternatives that will help the leader and organization get where they want to go. Some people view these people as really “leaders in disguise” but this is basically because those people have a hard time accepting that followers can display such indpendence and positive behavior. Star followers are often referred to as “my right-hand person” or my “go-to person.”

I’ve run into a lot of YES-people in my work. It’s so easy to be a “yes person” but it comes at great sacrifice. When I hire someone, I hire a professional team member who is going to be an active contributor, who can decide for themselves and keep us moving forward. That means, it’s a person who is going to come up with great ideas and share them with the team. As the designated leader, it will be my job to marshal support for these ideas and plans for improvement.

Later in the book, the author notes the following:

Most executives fear that they can neither keep star followers challenged by the job nor satisfied with their role in the organization. They believe that star followers will grow bored and disillusioned, seeking greener pastures and leading to high turnover…My own experience is that organizations with more star followers perform better because the star followers need not depend on the leader for direction or motivation. This reduces the transaction costs that hinder organizational success.

As a leader, I can certainly testify to the veracity of the statements in italics. In fact, whenever I have “star followers,” that is exactly my fear. Yet, I believe that I have no control over people’s lives except to empower them to create. My role is to create an environment that enables them to achieve their potential for the benefit of the organization, which is also to their benefit. Those that grow bored and disillusioned are not star followers, but really, sheep who imagine their attitudes and behavior make them “stars,” when in truth, it is just the opposite.

Over the years, I’ve come to fear less where a star follower will go. In technology, such a person is always “on tap” and available for consultation. My network is still enhanced, even if that person isn’t here in this workplace. Perhaps that view is unique to education where losing someone to the competition doesn’t mean serious setback and failure, as it might in business.

One of the problems with having all YES-people is that no one ever thinks of the problems in an implementation. The balance is always in favor of the leader. This is problematic when considering a new initiative. While it would be nice to have a balance, the optimum situation is not to have an alienated follower for every yes-person on your team. Divide and conquer doesn’t work here.

In the teams I’m familiar with, it is far better to have star followers who have the autonomy to think and do for themselves once they understand what is desired, but more importantly, can innovate on what is desired. For me, the star follower is the one who can validate their own work, “punch their own clock” as one presenter at a Catholic Teachers’ Conference put it rather than let others decide what is worthwhile, what is not. That’s not to say that Dale Carnegie’s reminder to be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise” in his awesome book isn’t a requirement for leaders but I imagine that we can all be star followers, disciples to the learning we each can bring to one another.

Balance of the negative (alienated) and the positive (yes-person) isn’t what’s desired. Instead, balance can be achieved without the negative vs positive energy dynamic.

That distinction is critical…balance without good and evil, just good. What’s positive need not be bad because it is blind, and what’s negative need not be bad because it’s pessimistic and cynical. What is, is and we learn from one another what we need to do to improve the situation for those we serve.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure