A follower's degree of extroversion is one characteristic studied in relation to leadership style. Previous research suggested that highly extroverted individuals would need more interaction with their leaders to function well, but other research suggests this may not necessarily be the case and that other factors may be at work.

Follower Extroversion and Leadership Interaction

A follower's individual need for growth is a key characteristic influencing the leader-follower dynamic. Followers with a strong desire for organizational growth and learning tend to respond positively to leaders who offer developmental opportunities. Conversely, followers with a low need for growth may become dissatisfied if a leader pushes them toward development, as they might perceive it as being forced or as a sign of their underachievement.

Followers' Need for Growth

An employee's need for leadership is an important part of the leader-follower relationship. More autonomous employees may respond poorly to leaders who provide a lot of structure and rigid processes, which can reduce the quality of the leader-follower relationship. Employees with a high need for leadership tend to have better relationships with leaders when their work environment is well structured, has clear responsibilities, and has little ambiguity. These followers often work best when they can perform within provided guidelines and when the leader sets a clear path forward with little need for deviation.

Followers' Need for Leadership

Based on the case study below, evaluate the manager's leadership approach. Explain the most likely reason for the team member's change in behavior by analyzing the interaction between the leader's style and the follower's probable characteristics.

Analyzing a Leader-Follower Mismatch

Analyze the team dynamics described in the case study. Based on the individual characteristics of the two employees, explain why the manager's leadership approach is effective for one employee but is causing friction with the other.

Analyzing Leader-Follower Dynamics

Followership research emphasizes that people differ as individuals, so there probably is no single best leadership-follower dynamic. Examples of follower differences include how people respond to criticism and whether they prefer more or less structure.

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Followership is an emerging area of research in psychology that focuses on leadership and the relationship with leaders from the follower's perspective. It suggests that the leader-follower relationship should be examined in both directions, rather than focusing only on leadership, to better understand the relationship's dynamics. Because people differ as individuals, there probably is no single best leadership-follower dynamic.

Followership in Leadership Style

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Early followership research suggests that individual follower characteristics can lead to different types of relationships with a leader depending on the leadership style. It also suggests that not all leadership styles work well with all follower types.

Interaction Between Leadership Style and Follower Type

Characteristics of Followers

A manager successfully led a team of new trainees by providing constant, direct instructions and closely monitoring their work. When promoted to lead a team of senior, experienced specialists, the manager continued to use the exact same hands-on, directive approach. After several months, the new team's morale and productivity have significantly decreased. Which statement provides the best evaluation of this situation from a followership perspective?

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