Synopses & Reviews
Leadership is a topic that has been well-examined by scholars, consultants, and the media. By contrast, the study of followers has been largely ignored. As this book reveals, the leader-follower dynamic is far more complex than has been previously imagined.
The Art of Followership puts leader-follower interaction at the forefront of discussion. It examines the multiple roles followers play and their often complex relationship to leaders. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners from the burgeoning field of leadership/followership studies, this groundbreaking book outlines how followers contribute to effective leadership and to organizations overall.
Drawing from various disciplinesfrom philosophy, to psychology and management, to educationthe book defines followership and its myriad meanings. The Art of Followership explores the practice and research that promote positive followership and reveals the part that followers play in setting the standards and formulating the culture and policies of the group. The contributors include new models of followership and explore fresh perspectives on the contributions that followers make to groups, organizations, societies, and leaders. The book also explores the most current research on followership and includes insights and perspectives on the future of leader-follower relationships.
Review
"With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, this book highlights the different model, perspectives, and meaning of followership." (
T + D Magazine, 04/28)
"My long-time collaborator James MacGregor Burns, who wrote the forward in this book, deemed it is a ' landmark book in the complexities of the leader-follower dynamic. I agree." (TLC Newsletter, 04/2008)
Review
"Andy and Patty share indispensable insight to leaders of innovative change in their chapter, Effective Followship for Creativity and Innovation.” (
ThinkAboutItHarder.com, 05/05/08)
The Art of Followership turn leadership book on their heads. As the authors argue, followership is more important now that it has ever been. (Consulting Magazine, 05/05/08)
The Art of Followership is actually quite different in presentation…. Some chapters are quite short; others describe individual programs as a springboard for talking about the phenomenon. But most are scholarly think-pieces that are quite conceptual. (Financial Executive, 05/01/2008)
"With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, this book highlights the different model, perspectives, and meaning of followership." (T + D Magazine, 04/28)
"My long-time collaborator James MacGregor Burns, who wrote the forward in this book, deemed it is a ' landmark book in the complexities of the leader-follower dynamic. I agree." (TLC Newsletter, 04/2008)
Synopsis
The Art of Followershipputs dynamic leader-follower interaction at the forefront of discussion. It examines the multiple roles followers play and their often complex relationship to leaders. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners from the burgeoning field of leadership/followership studies, this groundbreaking book outlines how followers contribute to effective leadership and to organizations overall.
Drawing from various disciplinesfrom philosophy, to psychology and management, to educationthe book defines followership and its myriad meanings. The Art of Followershipexplores the practice and research that promote positive followership and reveals the part that followers play in setting the standards and formulating the culture and policies of the group.
The contributors include new models of followership and explore fresh perspectives on the contributions that followers make to groups, organizations, societies, and leaders. The book also explores the most current research on followership and includes insights and perspectives on the future of leader-follower relationships.
Synopsis
Perspectives from The Art of Followership
"In many ways, great followership is harder than leadership. It has more dangers and fewer rewards, and it must routinely be exercised with much more subtlety. But great followership has never been more important." Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor, University of Southern California, and author, Leaders and On Becoming A Leader
"Thirty years ago, I wrote that 'one of the most serious failures in the study of leadership has been the bifurcation between the literature on leadership and the literature on followership.' Surely, I added, it was 'time that the two literatures be brought together.' I know of no work that faces this challenge so well as The Art of Followership. I expect it to be a landmark work in the complexities of the leader-follower dynamic." James MacGregor Burns, Woodrow Wilson Professor (emeritus) at Williams College; author, Leadership; and senior editor, The Encyclopedia of Leadership
"The field of followership is still in its infancy. It is rare that people get a chance to build and shape a new area of inquiry. Collectively, we can grow the followership field so that it makes powerful contributions to society." Robert E. Kelley, professor, Carnegie Mellon University, and author, The Power of Followership and In Praise of Followership
Video
About the Author
Ronald E. Riggio is director of the Henry R. Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College. He is coeditor of The Practice of Leadership and Improving Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations, both from Jossey-Bass, and coauthor of Transformational Leadership, from Erlbaum.
Ira Chaleff is president of Executive Coaching & Consulting Associates, adjunct faculty at Georgetown University, and the author of The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders, from Berrett-Koehler.
Jean Lipman-Blumen is Thorton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and professor of organizational behavior at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, and author, The Allure of Toxic Leadership and Connective Leadership.
Table of Contents
Foreword by James MacGregor Burns.
Acknowledgments.
About the Contributors.
Introduction.
Warren Bennis.
PART ONE: DEFINING AND REDEFINING FOLLOWERSHIP.
1. Rethinking Followership (Robert E. Kelley).
2. Leadership: A Partnership in Reciprocal Following (James Maroosis).
3. Three Perspectives on Followership (Jon P. Howell and Mar?-a J. M?!ndez).
4. A New Leadership-Followership Paradigm (Ernest L. Stech).
5. Followership: An Outmoded Concept (Joseph Rost).
PART TWO: EFFECTIVE FOLLOWERSHIP.
6. Creating New Ways of Following (Ira Chaleff).
7. Rethinking Leadership and Followership: A Followera??s Perspective (Krista Kleiner).
8. The Hero's Journey to Effective Followership and Leadership: A Practitioner's Focus (Gail S. Williams).
9. Courageous Followers, Servant-Leaders, and Organizational Transformations (Linda Hopper).
10. Followership in a Professional Services Firm (Brent Uken).
11. Developing Great Leaders, One Follower at a Time (Rodger Adair).
12. Getting Together (Gene Dixon).
PART THREE: THE PITFALLS AND CHALLENGES OF FOLLOWERSHIP.
13. Following Toxic Leaders: In Search of Posthumous Praise (Jean Lipman-Blumen).
14. What Can Milgram's Obedience Experiments Contribute to Our Understanding of Followership (Thomas Blass)?
15. What Kind of Leader Do People Want to Follow (Michael Maccoby)?
16. Bystanders to Children's Bullying: The Importance of Leadership by "Innocent Bystanders" (Lorna S. Blumen).
17. Whistleblowing as Responsible Followership (C. Fred Alford).
PART FOUR: FOLLOWERS AND LEADERS: RESEARCH, PRACTICE, AND THE FUTURE.
18. Followersa??Cognitive and Affective Structures and Leadership Processes (Robert G. Lord).
19. Social Identity Processes and the Empowerment of Followers (Michael A. Hogg).
20. Lead, Follow, and Get out of the Way: Involving Employees in the Visioning Process (Melissa K. Carsten and Michelle C. Bligh).
21. Effective Followership for Creativity and Innovation: A Range of Colors and Dimensions (Kimberly S. Jaussi, Andy Stefanovich, and Patricia G. Devlin).
22. Conformist, Resistant, and Disguised Selves: A Post-Structuralist Approach to Identity and Workplace Followership (David Collinson).
23. The Rise of Authentic Followership (Bruce J. Avolio and Rebecca J. Reichard).
Notes.
Index.