Followership: An Essential Component of High-performing Teams

By Sharna Fabiano

When people hear the word followership, they often feel a gut-level sense of inferiority, perhaps imagining a sheep or an obedient servant. This reflexive cringe reaction to followership can aptly be described as an unconscious hierarchy bias — seeing those higher up in a formal hierarchy as smarter, better, more skilled and more valuable. This bias suggests that leading is inherently good, following inherently bad and, as a consequence, all positive qualities and abilities are mentally dropped into the leadership bucket. This flawed thinking leaves out a crucial piece of the puzzle for understanding and improving workplace dynamics…