Leader-Follower Relationships

The study of leadership has often been synonymous with the study of leaders. Although their existence was acknowledged, the role that followers play in the dynamics of leadership has historically been understudied and often even ignored. In the United States and elsewhere, leadership has tended to be glorified while the word follower conjures up images of sheep and serfs. Yet the success of leadership undeniably depends on the actions of followers, who can choose either to support or to sabotage, and who can influence the actions of leaders for better or worse.

Recent work has emphasized the importance of positive leader-follower relationships in successful leadership; it has also noted a trend toward expanding follower roles into what was once seen as the exclusive domain of leadership. Indeed, the leaderfollower distinction is itself often arbitrary: Most senior organizational leaders are also followers, though presumably engaged in a kind of proactive followership with their bosses that makes use of their own leadership skills.