A three factor model of followership, part 2: research on the three factor model and its application to team roles

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this three-part paper is to point out that while there is an extensive body of theory and research on leadership, less attention has been given to other roles, particularly follower roles. The authors outlined a three factor model of leadership and suggested it could be applied to followership. In the second part of the paper, the authors present empirical evidence on the three factor model of leadership and its application to the full range of team roles, including follower, co-worker and leader roles. In the third part of the paper the authors present and discuss further evidence specifically on follower behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

In this part of the paper, the authors present evidence on the internal reliability and external validity of three self-assessment instruments, two on leadership behaviour and one on team role behaviours. Evidence is provided from a diverse group of managers, mainly in the UK public sector. Individuals completed a variety of self-assessment instruments and, in some cases, had 360 degree assessments completed on them, and provided evidence on contextual variables. The methodology involves looking at the degree of correlation, and its statistical significance, between variables.

Findings

The three self-assessment instruments, two on leadership and one on team roles, were found to possess satisfactory levels of both internal reliability and external validity, consistent with the three factor model. These findings lent support to the three factor model of leadership, to its extension and application to followership, and to the reliability and validity of the three self-assessment instruments.

Research limitations/implications

Effective organisations need effective followers and effective leaders. Moreover, the skills of the effective leader develop out of and build on those of the effective follower. The research was based mainly on individuals in the public sector in the UK. It would be useful to extend such research to other contexts.

Practical implications

Given that the skills of the effective leader develop out of and build on those of the effective follower, the training of effective followers is seen to underpin that of effective leaders.

Social implications

The finding that the skills of the effective leader develop out of build on those of the effective follower challenges the widely held pre-occupation with leadership, the idea that leadership is qualitatively different from and superior to followership. Thus it challenges the cult of leadership.

Originality/value

This paper is the first published attempt to successfully apply the three factor model of leadership to team roles in general, including follower, co-worker and leader roles. In the third part of this paper, the three factor model is applied specifically to follower roles. Ways of measuring leader and follower roles are developed and used to identify follower behaviours, as well as to make possible the identification of behaviours valued when used by followers, based on 360 degree assessments.

Citation

Manning, T. and Robertson, B. (2016), "A three factor model of followership, part 2: research on the three factor model and its application to team roles", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 48 No. 7, pp. 354-361. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-01-2016-0004