Leadership isn’t a solo act. Despite decades of research focusing almost exclusively on what makes great leaders, we’re finally recognizing a fundamental truth: followers have tremendous influence on how leaders lead. The old image of the commanding leader directing passive subordinates is not just outdated—it’s counterproductive in today’s collaborative work environment.
Let’s explore how followership fundamentally shapes leadership and why understanding this dynamic is crucial for anyone in a leadership role.
Breaking Down Old Misconceptions
For too long, we’ve operated under several false assumptions about the leader-follower relationship. The first misconception is that followers are simply subordinate to leaders in a traditional power hierarchy. This outdated view sees leaders as gatekeepers of information and decision-making, with followers waiting passively for direction.
But technology and evolving workplace dynamics have changed everything. Information is now readily available from multiple sources, not just from the person at the top. Modern followers are more likely to question, circumvent, or even ignore leaders who don’t add genuine value. The power dynamic has shifted from “power over” to “power with.”
Another misconception is that followers play a passive role in organizational success. In reality, there’s a continuum from passive to proactive followership, and where your team members fall on this spectrum dramatically impacts your effectiveness as a leader. Some followers may execute directions without question, others voice opinions while supporting decisions, and still others actively challenge assumptions and provide unsolicited feedback. Each approach requires different leadership responses.
The Rise of Follower-Centered Leadership
The emergence of Implicit Followership Theories (IFTs) has shifted our understanding toward follower-centered leadership. This means that follower traits, beliefs, perceptions, decisions, and behaviors are just as crucial to the leadership process as traditional leader characteristics.
Think about it: a leader’s effectiveness isn’t determined solely by their skills or vision—it’s shaped by how followers receive, interpret, and act on that leadership. The same leadership approach can succeed or fail dramatically depending on the follower dynamic.
Research has identified eight key dimensions of effective followership that directly impact organizational productivity: partnership, motivation, competence, sense of humor, dependability, positive working relationships, willingness to express opinions, and proper comportment. As a leader, your job isn’t just to direct—it’s to foster these qualities in your team members.
The Two-Way Street of Influence
The relationship between leaders and followers creates a continuous feedback loop. Followers who work with empowering leaders become more proactive and participative. Conversely, participative leaders need followers who actively engage, communicate, and contribute ideas and constructive suggestions.
When followers fail to participate, communicate, or commit, organizational performance suffers—and so does leadership effectiveness. You can’t lead people who aren’t willing to follow, and you can’t inspire engagement without understanding what motivates your specific team members.
This dynamic plays out through what researchers call Social Impact Theory. Followers influence leaders by providing upward feedback, particularly social feedback about group dynamics and needs. Smart leaders adjust their style based on this input, sometimes even using personal power to appear more attractive to followers as a source of resources and support.
When Leaders Must Follow
One of the most important insights about modern leadership is that effective leaders are also effective followers. This isn’t just about organizational hierarchy—though most leaders do report to someone else. It’s about the fundamental skill of being open to influence, feedback, and learning from others.
Humble leaders who demonstrate genuine interest in their followers’ development create psychological freedom that enables better performance. This humility—being open to others’ ideas—actually requires leaders to follow sometimes, receiving and acting on feedback from their team members.
In participative and servant leadership styles, this dynamic becomes even more pronounced. Leaders must maintain interactive relationships with followers and involve them in decision-making. Success requires cooperation, trust, and flexibility from both sides—qualities that demand emotional intelligence regardless of your position in the hierarchy.
The Courage Connection
Courage emerges as a common element in both effective leadership and effective followership. Leaders need courage to make difficult decisions, speak truth to power, and protect their people. Followers need courage to provide honest feedback, challenge assumptions when necessary, and take ownership of results.
This shared need for courage creates opportunities for mutual influence. When followers demonstrate courage in service of organizational goals, they model behavior that can inspire leaders to be more courageous themselves. When leaders show vulnerability and authenticity, they create psychological safety that enables followers to take appropriate risks.
Practical Implications for Leaders
Understanding follower influence changes how you approach leadership:
Recognize Your Dependence: Your success as a leader fundamentally depends on your followers’ engagement, skills, and commitment. This isn’t a weakness—it’s the nature of leadership itself.
Invest in Follower Development: The eight dimensions of effective followership aren’t just nice-to-haves. They directly impact your ability to achieve results. Make developing these qualities in your team a strategic priority.
Create Feedback Loops: Establish regular channels for upward feedback and actually use that information to adjust your approach. Your followers often have insights about what’s working and what isn’t that you can’t see from your position.
Model Followership: Demonstrate your own willingness to learn, change, and follow the lead of others when appropriate. This creates psychological safety for your team to do the same.
Embrace Shared Leadership: Look for opportunities to distribute leadership responsibilities based on expertise, situation, and development needs rather than just formal authority.
The Research Gap and Future Opportunities
Despite growing recognition of followership’s importance, there’s still significantly less research on followership than leadership. This gap exists partly because society tends to focus on outcomes rather than processes, and leaders typically get credit for organizational success.
But when we shift to a process-focused view, followership becomes central. What happens on the way to desired outcomes depends on team dynamics, motivation, collaboration, and how people respond to leadership—all follower behaviors.
This research gap presents opportunities for leaders who want to gain competitive advantage. By understanding and intentionally developing followership dynamics in your organization, you can create conditions for success that your competitors might miss.
Moving Forward Together
The interdependence of leadership and followership isn’t just an academic concept—it’s a practical reality that affects daily organizational life. Recognizing this interdependence can transform how you think about your role as a leader.
Instead of seeing yourself as the sole driver of results, you can position yourself as someone who creates conditions where followers can thrive and contribute their best work. This shift often leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.
The most effective leaders understand that they’re only as good as their followers allow them to be. They invest in developing follower capabilities, create environments where people want to contribute their discretionary effort, and remain open to the influence that flows upward from their teams.
Leadership and followership are indeed two sides of the same coin. The question isn’t which is more important—it’s how well you understand and leverage the dynamic relationship between them to create organizational success.
References
Kim, C., & Schachter, H. L. (2015). Exploring followership in a public setting: Is it a missing link between participative leadership and organizational performance? The American Review of Public Administration, 45(4), 436–457.
Martin, R. (2015). A review of the literature of the followership since 2008: The importance of relationships and emotional intelligence. SAGE Open, 5(4).
Oc, B., & Bashshur, M. R. (2013). Followership, leadership and social influence. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(6), 919–934.
Shindler, J., & Schindler, J. (2014). Followership: What it takes to lead (pp. 1-10). Business Expert Press.