Ch. 7: Courage to follow

This chapter discusses the five ways in which effective followers need to use courage.

These include the courage to accept responsibility, to serve others and the needs of the organization, challenge authority, participate in change, and to leave when necessary. All of these are important aspects to being an effective follower. For the purpose of this blog I am going to discuss which of these I feel to be the most important and the least important. I will also discuss how a follower might derive the courage to behave in new ways to be more effective. 

Most important!

Considering how important I feel it is to be a servant leader, I feel it's only right for me to consider serving others to be the most important aspect of being an effective courageous follower. The text discusses that an effective follower is able to discern the needs of the organization and seek to serve them (Daft, 2018). A great follower will complement the leader and their position and work towards the common goal and mission of the organization. Followership is seen as the mirror image of leadership and both require a specific skill set (Holdeman, 2012). However, the area of serving is one skill that suits both the leader and the follower. Also, in comparison to the other areas of courage, this is the one aspect that will be required everyday and in almost all areas of being a follower. While the others are important, they are not required on a daily or even hourly basis. So if you were going to fine tune one of these aspects, fine tune the one that you will use daily. Because I can all but guarantee that if you are not a courageous, servant follower then you will most likely be useless to anyone or any organization. 

Least important!

When trying to gauge which of these are the least important aspect of being a courageous follower, I set out to determine which aspect would be utilized the least. Accepting responsibility, participating in change, and challenging authority might all be aspects of ones daily, or at least weekly, job as an effective follower. It's the aspect of knowing when to leave and choosing to do so that I have selected as the least important. Now don't get me wrong, it's a very important aspect of being a courageous follower. And sometimes it's necessary, particularly when one has gotten to a point that they feel they are no longer being an effective follower. Or maybe they have a hit a wall of limited growth and leaving is necessary or seems to be the only choice to make to continue to grow. Sometimes it might just be that "it's time". That was the case for Amber Grimes when she knew it was time to leave her dream job at Spotify. In her Forbes interview Amber stated, "I’m very aware that I’m a door opener. It’s not my purpose to stay in every building or always make it to the top at every company. But I do hope, that when all is said and done, I can look back and see that someone else was able to make it to the top through one of the doors I opened along the way" (Adeshola, 2018). 

Amber Grimes opens up on why she decided to leave Spotify and what's next.

The importance of behaving in new ways to be an effective courageous follower. 

Adapting to change can be difficult for most leaders and followers. As humans we are innately creatures of habit. It's important as followers to be able to adapt well to most changes. Unlike leaders, followers are given less choice in many situations, therefore adaptation and transformation is more immediately necessary. Many of these choices are simply our behavior in certain situations. Flexibility is key all around as a follower. Policies and procedures are often changed when certain areas in an organization see there is a consistent issue. Bosses and leaders change and the followers in the organization that are the most flexible are the most successful and enjoy their jobs more. They are also the ones more able to adapt and become leaders more easily. But, it definitely takes a courageous follower to acknowledge the change and behaviors they need to exhibit. Many individuals are set in their ways, and a lot of that goes back to pride. A courageous effective follower will adjust more easily because they understand that in doing so they are bettering themselves as well as the organization. As organizations change and grow so must the effective follower, much like a chameleon who uses it as a means of protection.

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