Leadership is defined as an influence relationship among leader and followers who intend
real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes (Daft, 2015). It is necessary
for leader and follower to maintain a good relationship in order to both achieve theirs
shared purpose. Because followers are responsible to carry out leader’s vision and dream,
they play a crucial role in today’s organization quest to maintain their relevancy in an ever
changing environment. The quality of this relationship between leaders and followers is at
the heart of successful leadership. In fact, Barbara Kellerman is a professor of public
leadership, at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government suggests that:
“There is no leader without at least one follower” (Kellerman, 2007). Here Kellerman,
stresses the importance of followers even if is only one.
In their article, The New Psychology of Leadership, Stephen D. Reicher, Michael J. Platow
and S. Alexander Haslam challenges the traditional structure of leadership, which is
usually from top-down. They uphold that no set of personality traits can guarantee good
leadership. Primarily because different traits might not suit the dynamism of the group
being. This assertion is in line with the contingency approach to leadership which supports
that effective leadership depend on organization situations and followers characteristics.
With this definition in mind, there are two part New Psychology of Leadership article that
I believe is most relevant to my leadership role as it relates to followers. First the section
that talks about being “One of the Gang”, and the sections that speaks on “Favoring
