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Leaders and Followers

Leadership is a complex interaction between the leader, followers, and situation. An effective leader considers how they differ from followers and adapts to the needs of the situation. Followers also influence the leadership process through their expectations, values and competence. The relationship between leaders and followers is dynamic and changing, with followers taking on more proactive roles and shared power structures becoming more common. Leadership can only be understood fully by considering all elements of the interactional framework.

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Usama Shahzad
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99 views

Leaders and Followers

Leadership is a complex interaction between the leader, followers, and situation. An effective leader considers how they differ from followers and adapts to the needs of the situation. Followers also influence the leadership process through their expectations, values and competence. The relationship between leaders and followers is dynamic and changing, with followers taking on more proactive roles and shared power structures becoming more common. Leadership can only be understood fully by considering all elements of the interactional framework.

Uploaded by

Usama Shahzad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Leaders and Followers

Leadership Involves an Interaction Between


the Leader, the Followers, and the Situation
 “The crowd will follow a leader who marches twenty steps in
advance; but if he is a thousand steps in front of them, they do not
see and do not follow him.”
Georg Brandes
Looking at Leadership Through Several
Lenses
 Studying only leaders provides just a partial view of the leadership
process.
 Leadership depends on several factors, including the situation and
the followers, not just the leader’s qualities.
 Leadership is more than just the kind of person the leader is or the
things the leader does.
 The clearest picture of the leadership process occurs only when you
use all three lenses to understand it.
The Interactional Framework for Analyzing
Leadership
The Interactional Framework for Analyzing
Leadership
 Depicts leadership as a function of three elements:
 The leader
 The followers
 The situation
 A particular leadership situation scenario can be examined using
each level of analysis separately.
 Examining interactions in the area of overlaps can lead to better
understanding.
 Leadership is the result of complex interactions among the leader,
the followers, and the situation.
The Leader

 Individual aspects of the leadership equation:


 Unique personal history
 Interests
 Character traits
 Motivation
 Effective leaders differ from their followers, and from ineffective leaders on
elements such as:
 Personality traits, cognitive abilities
 Skills, values
 Another way personality can affect leadership is through temperament.
The Leader

 Leaders appointed by superiors may have less credibility and may


get less loyalty.
 Leaders elected or emerging by consensus from ranks of followers
are seen as more effective.
 A leader’s experience or history in a particular organization is
usually important to her or his effectiveness.
 The extent of follower participation in leader’s selection may
affect a leader’s legitimacy.
The Followers

 Certain aspects of followers affect the leadership process:


 Expectations
 Personality traits
 Maturity levels
 Levels of competence
 Motivation
 Workers who share a leader’s goals and values will be more
motivated to do their work.
The Followers

 The number of followers reporting to a leader can have significant


implications.
 Other relevant variables include:
 Follower’s trust in the leader.
 Follower’s confidence or lack thereof in leader’s interest in their well-being.
Changing Roles for Followers

 The leader-follower relationship is in a period of dynamic change.


 Increased pressure to function with reduced resources.
 Trend toward greater power sharing and decentralized authority in
organizations.
 Increase in complex problems and rapid changes.
 Followers can become much more proactive in their stance toward
organizational problems.
 Followers can become better skilled at “influencing upward,”
flexible and open to opportunities.
The Situation

 Leadership often makes sense only in the context of how the leader
and followers interact in a given situation.
 The situation may be the most ambiguous aspect of the leadership
framework.
Leader-Member Exchange Theory

 Theory describes two kinds of relationships that occur among


leaders and followers:
 In-group members
 Out-group members
 LMX theory has broadened to include entire continuum of
relationships that leaders may have with members.
 The theory looks at the nature of the relationship between the leader
and the followers.

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