The Art of Followership: How Great Followers Create Great Leaders and Organizations

The Art of Followership turn leadership book on their heads. As the authors argue, followership is more important now that it has ever been. (Consulting Magazine, 05/05/08)

The Art of Followership is actually quite different in presentation…. Some chapters are quite short; others describe individual programs as a springboard for talking about the phenomenon. But most are scholarly think-pieces that are quite conceptual. (Financial Executive, 05/01/2008)

“With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners, this book highlights the different model, perspectives, and meaning of followership.” (T + D Magazine, 04/28)

“My long-time collaborator James MacGregor Burns, who wrote the forward in this book, deemed it is a ‘ landmark book in the complexities of the leader-follower dynamic. I agree.” (TLC Newsletter, 04/2008)

Leadership is a topic that has been well-examined by scholars, consultants, and the media. By contrast, the study of followers has been largely ignored. As this book reveals, the leader-follower dynamic is far more complex than has been previously imagined.

The Art of Followership puts leader-follower interaction at the forefront of discussion. It examines the multiple roles followers play and their often complex relationship to leaders. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners from the burgeoning field of leadership/followership studies, this groundbreaking book outlines how followers contribute to effective leadership and to organizations overall.

Drawing from various disciplines–from philosophy, to psychology and management, to education–the book defines followership and its myriad meanings. The Art of Followership explores the practice and research that promote positive followership and reveals the part that followers play in setting the standards and formulating the culture and policies of the group. The contributors include new models of followership and explore fresh perspectives on the contributions that followers make to groups, organizations, societies, and leaders. The book also explores the most current research on followership and includes insights and perspectives on the future of leader-follower relationships.