HRpedia: 'Followship'
Like leadership, only with considerably smaller kahunasFollowship, n.
As you’d expect, followship is the kind-of opposite of Leadership, and can generally be described as the skill of taking, rather than giving, direction.
Whilst it might sound like the very last thing any right-thinking person would put on a CV, it is a quality that all individuals need to develop to a certain degree. Without it, organisations of all kinds would quickly descend into total chaos.
In a sense, followship isn’t a world away from collective responsibility, one of the great political behaviours that disappeared somewhere toward the end of the last century. Both concepts suggest a benefit is following the party line for the greater good, even if as an individual you’d rather stick your directive where your line manager would notice it most.
Don’t assume that followers are passive and entirely ovine, though. As this article in Forbes suggests, some of the sub-skills of followship include seizing the initiative, being coachable, anticipating change and showing compassion.
Used in practice:
‘I know you said not to, Rupert, but I think I’ve found a way of eavesdropping into the lives of the rich and famous.’
‘Strewth, Rebecca – isn’t it time you showed some followship and stopped getting us all into trouble?’
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