Assessing Effective Attributes Of Followers In A Leadership Process

Abstract

Followership, being an understudied concept, raises fundamental questions: How did followership develop? Why do people submit into becoming followers? The developmental trajectory for the development of individual attributes is as yet, uncharted. Current study provides an overview of assessed attributes of followers, as proposed by Antelo (2010). Statistical survey design and correlation procedures are applied to assess selected variables and their relationship when examining the results of a multicultural survey conducted among leaders and followers in Russia, Belarus, United States, Bolivia, Mexico and Italy, totaling in over 400 members. Findings indicate that individual worker motivation influences performance and productivity.  Results of the study also illustrate that leaders typically rate themselves higher than followers do. The study discusses the need to understand how individual traits are developed, discovered, and how individuals can be formed, nurtured and prepared to become effective leaders as well as effective followers. The criticality of certain attributes characteristic to both leaders and followers is examined along with the need to analyze how some attributes can be changed.  Evolutionary approach in personal development and formation of individual attributes is taken into a great consideration.