1.

0 INTRODUCTION

1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
A small group is usually defined as a group of at least three members and a ma
of about twelve to fifteen members. Basically, small groups are usually formed to
specific problems, make decisions, set policies and submit reports. Small
communication takes many forms, depending on the purpose of the group. Some
groups exist for social reasons, while others form for solving complex problems. Lea
style can influence the type and quality of communication generated by the group.
communication offers both advantages and disadvantages. Group discussions generat
from multiple perspectives, creating a more valuable pool of knowledge. Groups ofte
more comprehensive solutions than individuals. Decisions resulting from group disc
often receive greater acceptance of decisions made by individuals. Group efforts c
when some members succumb to the social pressures that dominate members. For exam
a manager leads a group of employees, some members may not express their true op
fearing they may lose their jobs. Groups can fail if they lose focus, and then move on t
issues. In other cases, a group of close friends can fall into the trap of group th
choosing results that do not explore all the options available.

Organizational communication as the sending and receiving of messages

interrelated individuals within a particular environment or setting to achieve individu
common goals. Organizational communication is highly contextual and culturally dep
Organizational communication is defined as the flow of messages within a netw
interdependent relationships. Organizational communication is a process which invol
transmission and accurate replication of ideas ensured by feedback for the purp
eliciting actions which will accomplish organizational goals (Goldhaber, n.d.). In th
group communication has the role of leadership and followership in the group for succ

A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of peopl

towards achieving a common goal. This leadership definition captures the essentials o
able to inspire others and being prepared to do so. Effective leadership is based upo
whether original or borrowed, but won't happen unless those ideas can be communic
others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants them to act. Pu
more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the pe
2
A small group is usually defined as a group of at least three members and a maximum of
about twelve to fifteen members. Basically, small groups are usually formed to solve specific
problems, make decisions, set policies and submit reports. Small group communication takes
many forms, depending on the purpose of the group. Some small groups exist for social
reasons, while others form for solving complex problems. Leadership style can influence the
type and quality of communication generated by the group. Group communication offers both
advantages and disadvantages. Group discussions generate ideas from multiple perspectives,
creating a more valuable pool of knowledge. Groups often make more comprehensive
solutions than individuals. Decisions resulting from group discussion often receive greater
acceptance of decisions made by individuals. Group efforts can fail when some members
succumb to the social pressures that dominate members. For example, if a manager leads a
group of employees, some members may not express their true opinions, fearing they may
lose their jobs. Groups can fail if they lose focus, and then move on to other issues. In other
cases, a group of close friends can fall into the trap of group thinking, choosing results that do
not explore all the options available.

Organizational communication as the sending and receiving of messages among

interrelated individuals within a particular environment or setting to achieve individual and
common goals. Organizational communication is highly contextual and culturally dependent.
Organizational communication is defined as the flow of messages within a network of
interdependent relationships. Organizational communication is a process which involves the
transmission and accurate replication of ideas ensured by feedback for the purpose of
eliciting actions which will accomplish organizational goals (Goldhaber, n.d.). In the small
group communication has the role of leadership and followership in the group for success.

A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act
towards achieving a common goal. This leadership definition captures the essentials of being
able to inspire others and being prepared to do so. Effective leadership is based upon ideas
whether original or borrowed, but won't happen unless those ideas can be communicated to
others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants them to act. Put even
more simply, the leader is the inspiration and director of the action. He or she is the person in
the group that possesses the combination of personality and leadership skills that makes
others want to follow his or her direction. A leader as the word stands is someone who leads
others. He should have a vision, commitment and drive to achieve the goal of the group. In

3
other words, team leadership is the management of a group of people to achieve the desired
result. The leader must motivate and inspire confidence in the members of the group.

Followership is the act or condition under which an individual helps or supports a

leader in the accomplishment of organizational goals. Followership can take an interactive
role, which means that a follower’s role is to complement and support her or his leader in
accomplishing organizational goals. Followership can be an independent role, where
followers act independently of their leaders with little necessity for oversight or management.
Lastly, followership can take on a shifting role perspective, where followership is seen as less
a concrete title or position but rather a state one embodies depending on the tasks at hands. In
some situations, an individual may be a leader and in others a follower depending on the
context of the organizational goals.

2.0 THE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP

In every company or organization, a leader is very important for making a decisions
in the organization. A leader also play a main role in running out the organization to achieve
their main goal and objectives. According to [ CITATION Mar14 \l 1033 ] said leadership can be
defined as an ability of an individual or a group of individuals to influence and guide
followers or other members of an organization. Leadership is the process of actions and
operations, creativity and emotions of mind, body and soul. In addition, leadership is involves
in making decisions, creating and articulating a clear vision, establishing achievable goals
and providing followers with the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve those goals.
According to [ CITATION Jos15 \l 17417 ] defined leadership as the process of influencing the
thought, feelings and behaviors of group members and establishing the direction that others
follow leadership and influence are parts of same skill. The term leadership refers to the main
action. We often refer to individuals or groups of people who influence people through
motivations and ideas for good. Every organization or company needs leaders to perform
tasks among employees. Not only in the corporate sector, but leadership is needed for broader
purposes such as running the country. A leader contributes to bringing his team in a positive
direction where they learn the value of hard work, the importance of time and the goal
setting. A leader is the epitome of inspiration for his followers

4
 The role of leadership is very important in controlling the organization. The role of a
leader in an organization can be formally delegated by his or her position as manager or head
of department and it can also be formally assumed by employees with specific charisma that
others are attracted to. A leader must set clear visions that mean that good and good vision
can influence employees to understand and accept the future of the organization. Good
leaders will influence workers to perform their duties by explaining their vision and the
importance of their role in the outcome. In addition, a good leader can motivate employees
well, which means motivating them to know their needs and wants by giving them what they
need and giving credit for a job well done. Good leaders know this and will communicate
with their units to find out more about their needs and wants. In addition, good leaders should
guide their employees as they can help employees determine their role in the work process.
Good leaders can also guide them by providing them with the tools they need to carry out and
participate in their efforts along the way. Indeed, a good leader will explain his duties,
provide excavation tools, direct work and be ready to assist the army if they have a problem.
In addition, good leaders should build employee morale by engaging everyone to work
toward the same goals. A good leader will let others know how much their work is worth.
Simple gestures like throwing a surprise party to acknowledge the small success of a unit can
stimulate employee morale.

In addition, good leaders are important and help influence the behavior of others. A
manager must influence subordinates with his or her leadership ability to control and ensure
that they work their best to achieve their goals. Furthermore, good leaders also help resolve
conflicts effectively as leaders must always allow their followers the freedom to express their
views. This is to ensure that conflicts are easy to understand and provide timely solutions and
minimize the potential for adverse effects. Leaders inspire their team not based on their own
goals or results, but on the behaviors they exhibit, their views and attitudes in certain
situations. A leader needs to be a positive outlook to address the issue. Therefore, great
leadership styles focus on problem solving and team dynamics rather than promoting oneself.
A great leader will not succeed if they are more concerned about themselves than the well-
being of their team.

Furthermore, the flip side of leadership is followership. Followership is a

straightforward concept. It is the ability to take direction well, to get in line behind a
program, to be a part of a team and to deliver on what is expected of you. There are several
qualities of followership such as judgement, competence, honestly, loyalist, courage, work

5
ethic and mores. In additional, the role of followership is not to carry out all the ideas of the
leaders but their role is to help leader become effective while maintaining their own values
and the essential requirements, demonstrate self-management skills, and be an effective
individual contributor, even without leadership.

3.0 APPLICATION OF LEADERSHIP

In guiding the followers in the company to reach out the goal that been set by the
company’s mission and visions, the leader have the most important roles in ensuring the
successful of the team. In the other words, the role of the leadership can be clearly seen
through the actions and order given to the subordinates. To ensure the roles are well-adapt
with the leadership and the way they lead, there are some approach that usually applied in the
leadership relationship. The approach of the types of leadership can be categories in three
types. The first approach can be classified as transformational approach which the leader
elevates to the group’s members, enabling them not only to accomplish the group task but
also to emerge as more empowered individual. At the centre of the transformation is the
concept of charisma that quality of an individual that make people believe in or want to
follow him or her.

Transformational approach of leadership will usually act towards in cultivate or

encourage more their team in order to make them motivated and boost their spirit in
achieving their ultimate goal in every task given or project assigned to them by the company.
Managers can also employ different motivational strategies and techniques to boost employee
performance or accomplish internal change (Ingram, 2019). This kind of the leadership
approach usually avoid in giving the followers punishment as they do not hit the company’s
targets and goals. This approach will created good relationship with the subordinates as they
will help their team and guide them and get involve together to lead and ensure the team to be
success. The transformational leaders also will goes beyond the managing operation routines
and always craft the new strategies for the teams and company in order to lead them in the
next level of performances and success. It also styles focus on team-building, collaboration
with the employees and also motivate them in every single level of the organization in order
for the leaders to accomplish the new changes in the company for the better results.

The other approach is functional approach where the leaders giving more focuses on
what the leaders should do and act in a given situations. The leaders are already considered
some of this functions in the discussion of the group members which identified as a group

6
roles (Mugawa, 2010). The other functions found to be associated with the leaders
responsible in setting the goals and the target, giving the directions to the group members and
also summarizing the group progress. The functional leadership explaining about the way of
addressing the specific leader behavior expected in order to contribute in the organization or
the unit effectiveness successful leaders and identifying the actions and behaviors they show.
This kind of approached had the argument of the main job of the leader which is to see that
whatever is necessary to the group needs is taken care of. In simple explanation, this kind of
approach sometimes do not need the particular persons to be assigned as a leader. Through
the certain situations and task given, who the person which led the situation will be clarified
as a leader without any authorization assigned. Hence, a leader can be said to have done their
job well when they have contributed to group effectiveness and cohesion. In the functional
leadership approach, leadership does not rest with one person but rests on a set of behaviors
by the group that gets things done. Any member of the group can perform these behaviors, so
any member can participate in leadership. In order to keep being the effective being the
functional leadership, the leaders should have few characteristics such as the focus on the
action taken which it can develop the behavior of a successful leaders and help in identifying
the action that can help in achieving the successful result. Other than that, the leaders should
have result-oriented characteristic where it help in deciding what matter that should be done.

The leadership role is fluid and the primary emphasis is on ensuring behaviors that
achieve a particular result. It isn’t much use getting applauded on a great leadership style if
nobody does anything. Besides, as a functional leaders, the particular persons need to be
ready and organize. This is because in order for the group to perform their task perfectly and
effectively, the leaders should ensure that the group is properly organized. They also need to
be ready in order to prepared all the members and let the members have a clear understanding
if what is expected from them. The leader also should have a characteristic on the behavior
that can be a flexible leadership role. This is because it help in maintaining the role of the
leadership in the group. It shows that it is not necessary for a group to have only one
particular member who can performs all the leadership function, besides anybody from the
group can perform the action which means they also can be the leader. It doesn’t matter who
does what, what matters is whether the task gets done. Therefore, the leadership role itself is
quite flexible (Huseth, 2012).

Next, traits approach is a leadership approach where people used to define as a leader
can only be a leader if that particular person have all the specific requirement and need to

7
meets with all the characteristics. There were also an argument that leaders should possess
certain traits if they want to be effective leaders. Some of the traits found to be associated
with leadership are intelligence, dominance, honesty, foresight, altruism, popularity,
sociability and knowledge. Effective leaders pay attention to group members and genuinely
care about helping them succeed. They want each person in the group to succeed and play a
role in moving the entire group forward. They also will adapt with the best and excellent
interpersonal skills which is essential for leading a group effectively. Based in the situation in
the video, we can see clearly that the leader is applying the trait leadership approach where
she is knowledgeable, intelligence and can control the team. She can lead the team in order to
lead them to success. She help her group by leading with some good ideas. The application of
the traits approach such as intelligence had her in being a great leaders which also smooth out
her role as an effective leader. She show that she have the charismatic characteristic as she
strongly being a leader that help the group to achieve their goals in the project given by the
top management. The leader seem to lead to the generating a great ideas where she ask all the
department about the arising issues and getting involve in solving the issues. She also being
creative as she gives out the great ideas about the project that being discussed. Thus, the
leader had applied the traits approach in her leadership.

The last approach is the situational approach where this approach is based on the
relationship between leaders and the followers which then provides a frameworks in order to
analyses the situation. In situational leadership, it refers to when the leader or manager of an
organization need to adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying
to influence. With situational leadership, it is up to the leader to change his style, not the
follower to adapt to the leader’s style. In situational leadership, the style may change
continually to meet the needs of others in the organization based on the situation (Anthony,
2019). Based on the situation in the video, it clearly show that there are two different
situation that apply the situational approach where the first one is fully guide with the help of
the leader. In directing situational leadership, the leader of the group is the one making all
decisions and informing others in the group about the decision made. The situational leader
utilizes a framework that relies on flexibility, adaptability, and thoughtful analysis of what
people need to develop and succeed (Gentry, 2019). This style of leadership may also be
referred to as micro-management as the leader is very involved and closely supervises the
people who are working. With this style of leadership, it is a very top-down approach and the
employees simply do exactly what they are told.

8
 The other situations is where the leader put totally her trusts to the groups and believe
that the group would do their best in performing the project. This is because, it will help the
employees to be more creative as they do not feel pressures and feel as they are being push to
do their task assigned. Besides, some of the employee could not working under pressure and
need some spaces to generate ideas. By indirectly lead the group within the situational
approach, it can help them in enhancing the employees skills in managing and learn on how
to control over the project givens as they do not have to lies against the leader’s idea only. It
help the employees to accelerate the pace and the quality of the employee’s development
(Cleveland, 2019). Leader is involved the least amount with the employees and they were
given the responsibility for choosing the tasks and the directions they will take. Although the
leader may still be involved for direction or feedback purposes, it is on a much lower level
than with other situational leadership styles. With this style of leadership, the employees
know their role and perform it with little supervision required.

4.0 THE ROLE OF FOLLOWERSHIP

Followership is defined as the willingness to cooperate in working toward the

achievement of defined objective showing a high level of teamwork. The effective of
followers is someone who being active participants in creating the leadership process.
Followers allow leaders to establish and maintain themselves in controlling productive,
efficient, and people oriented situation and followership also show the ability to follow the
leader. The role of a follower is not a simple one. It doesn’t just mean following directions or
blindly accepting everything a leader says. Good followership is characterized by active
participation in the pursuit of organizational goals. In many cases, this means working
independently, being accountable for your actions, and taking ownership of necessary tasks
[ CITATION Sue19 \l 17417 ]

There is a lot of quality compliance. First, judgment. Followers must take instructions
but they have a fundamental responsibility for the company to do so only when the
instructions are ethical and appropriate. The key is to have the judgment to know the
difference between the instructions given by your leader on how to proceed with your
disagreement and what is really wrong. Next, work ethic. A good follower is a good worker.
They are diligent, motivated, committed, and attentive to detail and make a business. Leaders
have a responsibility to create an environment that allows for these attributes but regardless,

9
it is the responsibility of the followers to be good employees. After that, efficiency. The
followers cannot follow properly unless they are competent in the tasks that the leader
directs. It is the duty of leaders to ensure that their followers are competent. Sometimes
things go wrong because their followers are not responsible for the task at hand. When this
happens, leaders should blame themselves, not their followers. Bad leadership signs blame
followers for not having skills they don't have. Next, be honest. His followers owe their
leaders an honest and clear assessment of what their leaders are trying to achieve and how.
This is especially true when followers feel that the leader's agenda is flawed. Respect and
decency are important but say, it is not acceptable for followers to sit in their arms while a
helpless leader moves a proverbial bus on a cliff. Good leaders are grateful for the
constructive feedback from their team. After that, loyalty. Good followers honor their
obligation to be loyal to their company. Loyalty to a company and its goals are very
important when there is a problem, interpersonal or otherwise, with a particular leader.
Unfaithful followers are inevitably the cause of trouble. They cause problems among team
members; they compromise on the achievement of goals; they waste everyone's time; they are
a threat. Loyalty is not a synonym for strangers. Instead, the essence is a strong commitment
and commitment to what the organization is doing. Followers should keep in mind that their
duty is to the company, not the leader at a given time.

5.0 APPLICATION OF FOLLOWERSHIP

Most leaders need the followership who is doing their work done without being told from the
leader. And as a followership, they need give their commitment to the work that has been
given by the leader and need to be obedient. People display followership when they express,
through their words or actions, respect and support for a person they view as their leader and
openness to be influences in the capacity [ CITATION Bri14 \l 17417 ] . However, follower
engagement ranges between passive and active. Passive engagement involves followers
waiting for direction from the leader before reactively taking action and active engagement
consists of followers taking the initiative to actively participate in the organization’s task.
Thus, between active and passive followers they are a seven type of followership which is
opportunists, loyalists, sycophants, critics, realist, traitors, and spectators.

Firstly, opportunists. This type is fall into the negative category as a followership
because they have a price and can be bought easily. They also love to be close to the strong
person in the organization and give their loyalty to whoever is at the moment and will be

10
more benefit to their self. This usually can be see it in full of the political campaigns. For
example, the situation that can be relates to this type of followers which is one of the worker
in the marketing department who always stick with their leader that has a higher position than
him/her. This kind of person will always as for help from their leader in any situation as long
as they will get some advantages or benefit. In additional, this opportunist is not loyal to their
leader because when they find the person who will give a better advantage to them, they
automatically will change their loyalty to leader.

Second is loyalist or can be known as the genuine supporters. This is the one of the
followership who has a positive attitude. This category of followership is very satisfied and
productive and passionate about the team and will work hard to make it successful by always
giving suggestions. They are also very involved and work hard to support their leader and can
be trusted to do the work that have given. For example, is the situation when the leader is
want to make an activity to all the staff in the company and make a different decision from
the annual activities before which is the leader has decided to go hiking as the annual
activities from their staff. From the decision, there have many staff are opposed and disagreed
with the decision. But one of the follower who is the loyalist person is support the ideas and
agree to make a preparation for that activities. This is shown that person as a loyal follower
because he/she has support the opinion of the leader and at the same time he/she influence the
other staff to join and support the activity by give some experience and explanation about the
activity.

Third, is sycophants who is better to known as the flatterer or the “yes people”
because this type of follower always submissive to all the instructions and wishes of the
leader even when it is contrary to the majority's opinion of any matter. They cannot be relied
upon to give critical feedback if the leader is heading in a direction that conflicts with the
purpose or values of the organizations. They also point out problem or raise objections and
they will avoid any resistance and will defer to the leader. For example, as secretary who
always follows the instructions given by a leader without any argument.

Next is type of followership opposed to the loyalist which is critics. Critics is an

opposition. This is because the detractor’s goal is to challenge and question the leader’s every
behavior and policy. They can be categorized as unhappy, maybe for some reason they are
not recognized. In addition, they are often the first to welcome new employees and tell them

11
“how it works well here”. So from this situation, this type of followers shows a bad attitude
because it seemed to look down on the new employee and wanted to scare them for working
at that company. Therefore, critics will always have their own opinions and they are not
afraid to oppose especially during a meeting.

Then, the followers who have a realist attitude. Realists provide critical thinking that
builds and interacts with groups and leaders. If they agree with the current action, they will
return to the leader 100% (Hyacinth, 2014). Alternatively, if they do not agree, they will
challenge the leader, offers a constructive alternative to help leaders and organizations
achieve their goals. This type of followership is very needed in an organization for help the
company to achieve the target. This is because they are people who always give their
opinions or views if has any decision made which is not favorable and if the decision made is
makes sense and can solve a problem that maybe happen in the organization, realist is will be
the first to agree for that.

After that is traitors. Traitors is followership who has the very bad attitude in an
organization and can have an adverse effect on the company. Traitors can be known as the
silent haters and conspirators. This is because they are very good actors and hard to spot as
they have gained the leader’s trust. They also have a strong negative emotional feeling about
the leader and work hard to weaken them. With this attitude, these followers can easily do
bad things to the company such as breaking company secrets, influencing the other employers
and also someone who will be happy to see their leader fall.

Lastly, is spectators or the observers. This type of followership is group who are
separated from the organization or task and just hold a neutral position regarding the leader.
They also only work for their wages and are not involved neither here nor there but stand by
the side. For example, this can relate to the practical employees which is someone who is the
post graduated and need to involve and work as their practical to experience the feel at the
workplace. They just need to do a simple work and while attend the meeting this followership
just need to listening without having to say anything.

Therefore, the organization need to beware with the sycophant because they are not
truthful and can set the leader up for a great fall. But the organization or leader can rely to the
loyalist to finish the job because of their admiration for the leaders. They can provide leader
with a feedback wrong in their assessment of the talent and abilities and they are also good to

12
be around especially at the low times such as failed project or poor performance to provide
needed of assurance.

6.0 CONCLUSION

As we glean deeper insight into the origins of leadership and followership, this
knowledge can ultimately help to design organizations that work with or around evolved
tendencies to select and follow leaders. By comprehending a greater understanding of the
leader-follower relationship affords organizations, society and leaders the opportunity to
capitalize on the capabilities of their followers. Furthermore, utilizing the knowledge, skills,
functions and abilities of followers increases the potential performance and potential success
of all parties. As viewed, the function and role or might be say as challenge for the leader as
mentioned such as setting goals, organizing and also reduce employee retention, is
identifying what specific steps he or she can take to inspire the members of the organization
to be effective followers. The obvious starting place is to model the behaviors that will make
the followers effective and then the leader must proceed the behaviors that will create the
conditions for followers to use their own talents and skills to move the organization forward
and to be inspired to do so, just like followers functioned as team oriented, center conflicts or
issues by make it clear and yet be critically open-minded.

Furthermore, to improve understanding of the characteristics of effective

followership, as well as the dynamic interplay between leadership and followership will help
all leaders better serve their institutions. Being caring and always communicate also has
multiple aspects because it involves members of the organization having compassion and
empathy for each other, which translate into mutual encouragement for collaborative efforts
toward shared goals. A culture of caring, adopts some measure of reciprocal loyalty, in the
sense of duty and devoted attachment to others and the organization once it involves caring
for the organization specifically, caring for the organization’s performance. Thus,
communication is almost always noted on lists of important leadership behaviors. This show
that communication throughout the organization is essential if individuals in the firm are
optimize their ability to perform their jobs and help others in the organization react to
opportunities and avoid threats.

13
References
Anthony, L. (2019, February 12). Define Situational Leadership. Retrieved from Chron:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/define-situational-leadership-2976.html

Cleveland, D. (2019, August 14). WHAT IS SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP? Retrieved from Corporate
Performance Group: https://corporateperformancegroup.com/2017/08/09/what-is-
situational-leadership/

DeVito, J. A. (2015). Human Communication. United States: Pearson Education.

Gentry, G. (2019, February 15). What is situational leadership? Retrieved from Work Life:
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/leadership/leadership-styles-for-every-situation

Huseth, W. (2012). 10 Functional Leadership Characteristics. Retrieved from Executive Search |

Executive Recruiters • Y Scouts : https://yscouts.com/10-functional-leadership-
characteristics/

Hyacinth, B. (2014, November 16). The Seven Types of Followers. Retrieved from Linked in:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141116040445-150905450-leaders-beware-of-followers

Ingram, D. (2019, February 04). Transformational Leadership Vs. Transactional Leadership Definition.
Retrieved from Chron: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/transformational-leadership-vs-
transactional-leadership-definition-13834.html

Mugawa, M. (2010, March 4). Functional Leadership Theory. Retrieved from Scribd:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/27796262/Functional-Leadership-Theory

Rouse, M. (2014, June 14). Definition of Leadership. Retrieved from SearchCIO:

https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/leadership

Wigston, S. (2019, July 16). The Critical Role of Followership in Leadership. Retrieved from eagleflight:
https://www.eaglesflight.com/blog/the-critical-role-of-followership-in-leadership

14