LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWERSHIP

PROFESSOR BEN ONYEUKWU (REV)

             NCE, (ENG.) ND/HD (JOURNALISM), DIP; BA, (THEOLOGY), MA, PhD

Leadership and followership

Introduction:

According to Iloeje, Audu and Anozie (2001:33), for one to know what leadership and followership mean, one must first of all find out who is a leader and who is a follower. In view this, Ukegbu Merry and associates put forth that, a leader is a person who shows the way and guides another person or group of persons to attain a goal or accomplish a task, as well as define a follower as, ‘anyone who accepts the authority of another person, obeys his instruction and yields to his advice. In an attempt to inspire a better understanding of who is a leader, and who is a follower, Iloeje, Audu and Anozie cite that, “society generally has people who tell others what to do, and others who do what they are told to do. According to them the first set of people lead, whereas, others follow. So, the first sets of people are leaders and the second sets are followers.

         Having cited the above, what is therefore, leadership and what is followership?

The meaning of leadership:

          Ikwumelu in Ajaegbo and Ibezim (2001:45) remarks that, “the term ‘leadership” is derived from the Latin word, ”ductus”, meaning to lead”. He equally notes that, leadership as a word appears in virtually all the fields of study and in each of these fields, it evokes different and varied meanings. In the words of Iloeje, Audu and Anozie, “leadership is therefore, the service of leading people”, whereas, Alexander (2011:51) says, it is the state or position of being a leader.

Types of Leadership

           leadership is of various types and numerous. However, in this course, we shall be looking at the following:

1.     Family leadership:

            According to Iloeje, Audu and Anozie (2001:34), “in the family situation, the father is the leader. He occupies the family leadership position, and other members of the family are followers, who he guides, maintains and protects.

2.     Traditional Leadership:

         The traditional leadership position is occupied by a traditional ruler. Ukegbu and associates (2010:48) opine that, this kind of leadership is based on a people’s custom. Therefore, a traditional  ruler may be defined as someone who rules the people in line with their customs. In Nigeria, the Igbos call them “ezes” the Yoruba people refer to them as “obas”, and the Hausa community call them “emirs”, etc.

3.     Religious Leadership

           Religious leadership is the type of leadership found in religiou institutions. For instance, in  Christian religion, the bishop, pastor, elder are in leadership positions. In Islamic religion, the imam is in charge, and in traditional religion, the chief priest is known to be occupying the leadership position.

4.     Political leadership:

          Iloeje, Audu and Anozie (2001:35) posit that, “political leadership” is of various types, and the leaders run different types of political systems or governments, and  these they cite as follows:

(a)  Monarchy:

       These are political leaders who become leaders because they are born in a royal family. Such leaders are called monarchs, and their political leadership type or system is called a monarchy. 

(b) Aristocracy

        Aristocracy is that type of political leadership occupied by people from rich and powerful families. Such leaders are referred to as aristocrats. some very powerful kings in the Middle  East are aristocrats.

(c)  Autocracy:

             Also, Iloeje, Audu and Anozie (2001:35) cite that, “when a political leader rules all by himself, he assumes full and total power and issues laws and orders without consulting anyone, he is a dictation and he runs a dictatorship or a totalitarian or autocratic government. Hitler was a dictator in Germany in the 1930s.

(d)          Democracy:

              Democracy is said to be “government of the people, by the people and for the people”. In this type of political leadership, the leader has a cabinet of advisers with whom he discusses and whose combined views he takes to ensure that the collective will of the people is achieved.

(e)              Gerontocracy

               Gerontocracy is cited where political leadership is assumed by the elders in the society. In this type of political leadership, the elders who are in power rule by consultation and consensus

Functions of leadership

              According to Ikumelu in Ajaegbo and Ibezim (2001:56) leadership functions consist of, first, helping the group to find the means to a goal already agreed upon, and second, helping the group to decide upon a goal. More typically, individuals come to be accepted as leaders because they provide focus for existing or emerging values and beliefs.

         Burgoon et al, (1974:147) outline a number of leadership functions some of which are hereunder discussed.

1.                 Initiation function: The leader ought to originate and facilitate new ideas and practices. It is equally his duty to resist new ideas when, in his own estimation, they are inappropriate.

                A leader that clings to the status quo and resists change by all means is soon faced with stressful followers and general uprising. A laissez-faire leader is rarely an initiator.

2.                 Membership function: A leader should ensure that he is a member of the group. He achieves this by mixing with the followers, emphasizing informal interaction, and taking care of their socio-emotional needs. An autocratic leader is lacking in this function.

3.                 Representation/Defiance Function: A leader should act as the spokesman of the group and defend the members from external threats.  The ability of the leader to carry out this function determines the rating of the group by others, and the rating of the leader by the group.

4.                 Organization function:   A leader should structure his own work and that of others. Involvement of the follower in the setting of organization objectives and in evaluation makes the execution of this function possible.

5.                 Integration function:  A leader should posses the skill of conflict resolution or crises management. He should at all times strive to create and sustain conducive industrial environment and individual happiness.

6.                 Gate-keeping Function:  A leader should function as filter and manager of information entering and leaving the group in interactive relationship with other groups. This is referred to as gate-keeping function.

7.                 Reward function: The leader evaluates and assesses the performance of the followers. He expresses approval or disapproval of their behaviour, via material rewards such as salary increases or by conferring status, praise, or recognition.  In all these, he allows objectivity to hold sway.

8.                 Production function: In some cases, a leader is responsible for getting a task done. When this is the case, he has to device ways and means of achieving the objective without neglecting the socio-emotional needs of the followers.

   Qualities of good leadership

           Good leadership must demonstrate certain qualities if progress would be made in an organization. In line with this, Alexander (2011:54) outlines that a good and true leader is one who does his work honestly. In other words, a good leader is honest and:

    Disciplined

    Punctual to office or work

    Shows probity of character

    Speaks up for justice

    Faithfully carries out personal, family, religious and civic duties

    Shows initiative when tempted to do nothing

    Encourages the down-hearted, less-privileged, widows, physically challenge, etc

    Takes unpopular, but essential stand

    Forgoes some luxuries to help those who have little or nothing

    Respects the personal freedom of others

    Has the impelling desire of promote the temporal and external interest of all

    Respects and cares for self and develops his/her God-given talents

    Has the capacity to influence others towards positive achievements

    Remains ever focused

    Makes others feel important

    Tolerates mistakes of others with patience

    Humble and open to new ideas

    Proficient and has good knowledge of the task at hand

    Democratic and allows others people’s positive ideas to feature.

The meaning of followership:

                     In the words of Iloeje, Audu and Anozie (2001:33), “followership means the status of a follower or the act of following a leader, and according to Alexander (2011:52), “followership refers to the act of supporting an ideas or person or group of persons, etc.

                  However, Ikwumelu (2001:49) stresses that, “followership as a term is often used in conjunction with leadership. It therefore, shares most of the problems associated with the latter. It has an added difficulty of delineating a follower- after all, a follower at a given set-up could be a leader, and in another set-up , a follower, as he stresses further that:

1.     An individual who is a follower in one situation may be a leader in another situation.

2.     Leaders and followers control one another’s behaviour.

3.     Follower’s compliance is evoked by coercion, persuasion or conviction.

4.     Methods appropriate for the control of behavior of one group might be unsuitable for another group.

5.     Followership has as much responsibility as the leadership in ensuring group cohesion and continuity in organizational structure.

6.     There is closer understanding between followership and leadership in a democratic setting than in any other leadership-followership orientation.

7.     Followership is greatly influence by the socio-political environment within which it operates.

QUALITIES OF GOOD FOLLOWERSHIP

             Alexander (2011: 55), also says that the qualities of good followership are:

    Being humble and obedient to take instruction.

    Being hard working and focused.

    Being disciplined and punctual to work.

    Doing one’s civic duties and obligation as at and when due

    Accepting responsibilities that are appropriate to one’s status in life, for instance as a student

    Obeying rules, regulations and tenets that guide one’s place of work, school, country, state and society.

    Being faithfully to religious tenets.

    Loving and tolerating others in their different religious faith and weakness.

    Making “value” a watch word and doing everything that society value system demands.

ROLES OF A GOOD FOLLOWER:

According to Ikwumelu (2001:59), a good follower is an:

1.     Initiator: He should be able to propose or initiate new ideas, procedures, objectives and solutions to emerging and existing problems.

2.     Integrator: A good follower integrates the ideas or activities of other members following a clarification of the relationship between various facts, opinions and suggestion.

3.     Information Manager: He relates personal experiences relevant to the achievement of group objective, and seeks clarification when necessary.

4.     Opinion giver/taker: A good follower freely offers his own opinion on issues concerning the group and solicits the opinions and feelings of other group members.

5.     Elaborator: He clarifies and expands the ideas of others through examples, illustrations and explanations. He maintains objectivity and empathy in this exercise.

ROLES OF A BAD FOLLOWER:

Ikwumelu also cautions that the following roles of a follower are dysfunctional and should be avoided:

1.     Recognition seeker: This type of follower invites comments that focus on his achievements successes. He boasts of his skills, intelligence and purity of character.

2.     Dominator:  The follower monopolizes group interaction and wants to have everything his own way

3.     Anecdote:  The follower tells irrelevant stories, and in his bid to attract attention he dwells on irrelevant anecdotes.

4.     Aggressor: The follower insults and criticizes others. He exhibits jealousy and ill will.

5.     Blocker: the follower constantly and consciously objects to others’ ideas and suggestions despite the appropriateness of these ideas and suggestions. Through this negative attitude, he prevents progress in all spheres of group interrelationship.

6.     Special-interest pleader: The follower represents the interest of a different group. His loyalties lie outside the group he apparently belongs to.

In conclusion, and according to Iloeje, Audu and Anozie  (2001:33), there is no leader without  a follower, since a leader cannot lead himself . In the same way, there is no follower without a leader, since a follower must follow someone else, not himself . Consequently, leadership and followership go together. They are two sides of a coin, and no doubt, this is why experts consider the terms as a subject –matter.

                                    References:

           Alexander, O.A. (2011), standard   civic Education, Book 2,

Tonnimas & Company,   Nigeria.

           Ajaegbo D.E, ibezim, E.O.(2001), citizenship Education in Nigeria, an Interdisciplinary Approach, Solomon  Publishing Coy. Onitsha, Nigeria. 

                                              

               Iloeje,W.P, Anozie C.O.E, and Audu, A.R.E  (2001)21^ST Century Edition,                                                                              Junior Secondary Social Studies, Inselberg (Nigeria)Ltd, Enugu, Nigeria.

            Ukegbu, M.N, Mezieobi, K., Ajileye, G., Abdulrahaman   B.G., and Anyaoha,          C.N.(2010), Basic civic Education, for Junior Secondary Schools, Alphabet Nigeria publishers, Owerri, Nigeria  .