Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

12-2013

Abstract

Traditional research in leadership has largely relegated followers to the role of passive recipients or, at best, moderators of leader influence and behaviors. However, recent work in the area of followership has begun shifting this focus and emphasizing the possibility that followers actively have an influence over leaders, in particular leader behavior. This paper revisits traditional areas of the leadership literature and builds on the emerging followership literature to reintroduce followers as part of the social context of leaders. In an attempt to build theoretical rationales for how followers influence leader behavior we draw on the social influence (e.g., Social Impact Theory, Latane, 1981) and the power literature to suggest individual (e.g., strength and immediacy of followers) and group level (e.g., number of followers and unity of the group) characteristics that influence leader behaviors as a function of a leader's informational and effect dependence on followers.

Keywords

Leadership, Followership, Follower

Discipline

Leadership Studies | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Leadership Quarterly

Volume

24

Issue

6

First Page

919

Last Page

934

ISSN

1048-9843

Identifier

10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.10.006

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.10.006

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