Leadership and Change Management

Lesson 7 – Followership Date:11/2/18

BITS Pilani Dr. Swati Alok

Pilani Campus
Waiting for Clearance : Case summary : pg 217

• CEO Tony Bussard apparently wanted to relinquish none of the power

when he agreed with board members of Alvon Biometrics to maintain
control over the financial and administrative side of the company while
naming a COO to oversee day-to-day operations.
• Everyone agreed that the job was too big for one guy. After months of
assessments, interviews, and discussion, Juan Carlos De la Vega was hired
as COO for the company.
• De la Vega came to Alvon from a smaller rival company and was initially
excited about his new position and the future of Alvon.
• De la Vega trained in military security investigations and became
interested in the measuring and statistical analysis of biological data that
included fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, and facial
patterns that could be used in security systems.

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Waiting for Clearance :continued …

• But De la Vega’s exciting new position came with its own set of frustrations
as he tried to plunge into the rapidly changing technology while
simultaneously fitting into the organization and tip-toeing around Tony
Bussard’s ego.
• Bussard introduced De la Vega with the gusto of an under-fire field officer
who looks up to see reinforcements riding into the fray.
• However, one year into the job, De la Vega was still wondering what was
expected of him and where Bussard’s duties ended and his duties began.
With no clear agreement, De la Vega’s earnest efforts to get guidance
about his responsibilities seemed to be brushed aside by the CEO, who
remained elusive and vague.

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Waiting for Clearance ..continued …

 
• The confusion about De la Vega’s role also filtered down the ranks. Employees,
expecting initiative from De la Vega, remained uncertain about his range of
responsibilities.
• People looked almost exclusively to Bussard for direction, by-passing the new
COO.
• Workers liked De la Vega and admired his industry experience. However, old
habits die hard, and the habit of yielding to Bussard’s leadership remained
intact.
• Even one year later, employees were reluctant to take a chance on angering
Bussard by shifting even a portion of their attention and allegiance to De la Vega.
For his part, De la Vega knew the time for clarity was now, but he hesitated, not
knowing exactly how or when to approach the CEO from a position of strength.
 

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Queries

If you were De la Vega, what would you do at this point? Do you think De la
Vega has waited too long to make a substantial change in his relationship
with Bussard? Why?
 
How would you characterize De la Vega’s style as a follower? What tactics
might help improve his relationship with Bussard? Explain.

If you were in De la Vega’s position, what would you have done from the
beginning? Be specific about your actions and timing.

Analyze Bussard as leader, where he went wrong?

 

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Your Leadership Challenge

• Styles of Followership
• Strategies for Managing Up
• The Power and Courage to Manage Up
• What Followers Want from Leaders
• What leaders want from followers

2 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Followership

• Effective leadership requires effective followers

• There are no leaders without followers
• The influencing process of leaders and followers is a two-way
street, with followers also influencing leaders

• Kelly, “ without followers , leadership is meaningless and

leaders donot exist”

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Followership and Followers
• Followership
– Refers to the behavior of followers that results
from the leader–follower mutual influencing
relationship
• Follower
– Is a person who is being influenced by a leader
Critical Thinking and Involvement

Critical Thinking
– Thinking independently , examine, analyze and evaluate
matters of significance in organization life”
– Uncritical Thinking
– Failing to consider possibilities beyond what one is told;
accepting the leader’s ideas without thinking.

– Involvement : Follower who takes a visible and active

role in organizational affairs.

3 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Kelly’s style elaborated

Alienated follower – passive, yet independent critical thinker

Conformist – active participation, but no critical thinking

Passive follower– neither critical thinking nor active participation

Effective follower– Both critical thinking and active participation

Pragmatic survivor– qualities of all four extremes are present

5 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Followership Types
High

Effective Conformist
follower follower

Level of Pragmatic
Involvement follower

Alienated Passive
follower follower

Low
Low Critical Thinking High

7–11
Exhibit Followership Types
7.2

7–12
 Followership Types (cont'd)
• Alienated followers
– Are low on involvement yet are high on critical thinking
– Feel cheated or unappreciated
– Are capable but unwilling to participate in developing
solutions to problems
• Conformist followers
– Are the “yes” people of the organization
– Carry out all orders without considering the
consequences
– Avoid conflict
7–13
 Followership Types (cont'd)
• Passive Followers
– Are neither high on critical thinking nor
involvement
– Look to the leader or others to do all the thinking
– Require constant supervision
– Never go beyond the job description

7–14
 Followership Types (cont'd)
• Effective Followers
– Are high on critical thinking and involvement
– Are not risk-averse nor do they shy from conflict
– Have the courage to initiate change
– Serve the best interest of the organization
– Tend to function very well in self-managed teams
– Complement the leader’s efforts and can be relied
upon the relieve the leader of many tasks

. 7–15
 Followership Types (cont'd)
• Pragmatic followers
– Exhibit a little of all four styles—depending on which
style fits the prevailing situation
– Present an ambiguous image, with positive and
negative sides
• On the positive side, when an organization is going through
desperate times, the pragmatic follower knows how to
“work the system to get things done”
• On the negative side, this same behavior can be
interpreted as “playing political games,” or adjusting to
maximize self-interest

7–16
 Managing Up
• Consciously and deliberately developing a
meaningful, task-related, mutually-respectful
relationship with direct superiors

• Understand the leader

• Specific tactics to Influence Your Leader

17
 Strategies for Managing Up
• Understand the leader
– Goals, needs, strengths and weaknesses, and
organizational constraints
– Detailed oriented- larger picture
– Controlling- empowering
– Analyze information- quick decision
– Reader- listener
– Number person- word person
– Extrovert- introvert
– Example Bush versus Obama
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Influencing Your Leaders

Be a Resource for the Leader Help the Leader Be a Good

Determine the leader’s needs.
Zig where the leader zags.
Tell leader about you.
Align self to team purpose/vision.
Leader
Ask for advice.
Tell leader what you think.
Find things to thank leader for.

Build a Relationship View the Leader Realistically

Ask about leader at your Give up idealized leader images.

level/position. Don’t hide anything.
Welcome feedback and criticism. Don’t criticize leader to others.
Ask leader to tell you company Disagree occasionally.
stories.

Source: Richard L Daft: The Leadership Experience, 2002

10 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management 19
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Exhibit 7.4 - Sources of Power for Managing
Up

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Necessary Courage to Manage Up

Courage to assume responsibility

Courage to challenge

Courage to participate in transformation

Courage to serve

Courage to leave

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 What Followers Want from Leaders
Exhibit 7.5 - Rank Order of Desirable Characteristics

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 What Followers Want from Leaders

• Offering clarity of direction (goal setting

theory)
• Providing opportunities for growth
• Giving honest, constructive feedback
• Protecting followers from organizational
roadblocks

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 Providing opportunities for growth :
Leadership Coaching

A method of directing or facilitating a follower with the aim of

improving specific skills or achieving a specific developmental goal.

Managing Vs Coaching
Managing Coaching
• Telling • Empowering
• Judging • Facilitating
• Controlling • Developing
• Directing • Supporting; removing
obstacles

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Followers benefit from coaching

16 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Feedback

… using evaluation and communication to help

individuals and the organization learn and improve.

Effective Feedback Tips

 Make it timely.
 Focus on the performance, not the person.
 Make it specific.
 Focus on the desired future, not the past.

13 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Protecting followers from organizational
roadblocks

• Best leaders absorb all the pressure and “take pride in being a human
shield.”
 
• Good leaders take the heat so employees don’t have to.
• Leaders invest time and effort into helping their subordinates be good
followers.
• And when people can’t or won’t learn and change, good leaders get rid of
the “bad apples” rather than letting them infect the entire team.

MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
What Leaders want from Followers

 A make-it happen attitude.

 A willingness to collaborate.
 The motivation to stay up-to-date.
 The passion to drive your own growth.

9 MBA ZG 514 – Leadership and Change Management BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Thank you
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus