In the article “In Praise of Followers” Robert Kelley discusses and outlines the different types of followers, alienated, effective, sheep, survivors, etc. He outlines what each follower types motivations are and discuss how impactful or not impactful they are when following. Kelley also discusses the traits and qualities of a leader and outlines how a leader can cultivate effective followers. Kelley’s main argument throughout the article is the fact that people greatly overlook the follower role and lose out on maximizing productivity when not promoting effective followership. This comes back to the idea that in any situation the followers are just as, if not more, important than the leaders.
I find that Kelley makes a great point about people being effective followers only because they think that if they succeed and gain the trust of their peers then they will move up the corporate ladder. I find that especially in corporate settings people are always looking to get promoted and to not be a follower anymore. This seems like a positive feedback loop, because if you are moving up the corporate ladder, you will still be a subordinate to someone; it is very rare to become the CEO and have no boss.
I really enjoyed your post and thought you made a series of excellent points. I found it very interesting how the value of the follower is lost in finding an effective leader. Without followers, the leader has no one to lead. I really liked how they discussed in detail the importance of the effective follower and the great impact they have.
I agree with your statement that followers are just as important as leaders. It coincides with the story mentioned in the article about how the followers were able to save the company when the leaders weren’t. A good group of followers will lead to a successful leader.
I agree with you that many times a followers motivation comes from ambition, like Kelley said. In order to climb the ladder, people have to please others and show their capabilities and the best way to do that is being an effective follower.