Being a Follower

If you are worried about making mistakes, there are several avenues of support available to you. Rebecca Fielding explains how employers often support their leaders and how leaders can better support themselves.

As you can see from the examples used in Activity 5, much of the impact of poor leadership is felt by the followers. Based on findings from her extensive case studies, Barbara Kellerman (2004) has some advice for leaders wishing to work more effectively with their teams:

• Establish a culture of openness in which diversity and dissent are encouraged.
• Install an independent person to review complaints and maintain standards.
• Bring in strong and independent advisers who aren't afraid to tell you the truth.
• Avoid 'group think' as it discourages healthy dissent.
• Get reliable and complete information, and then disseminate it.
• Give a senior manager, who knows the organisation well, responsibility for ensuring the mission continues to matter.
• Establish a system of checks and balances to avoid policies and procedures that support bad leadership.
• Make sure you connect to all your constituents and not just a chosen, like-minded few.