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Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Lecture Notes
Chapter 9
Followership Ethics
Organizational Ethics: A Practical Approach (3rd ed.)
The Growing Power of Followers
•
•Followers do the most of the work and should get most of the credit for
success
•
•There can be no leaders without followers
•
•The voices of followers are increasingly being heard
•
•Ordinary people are leading social movements
•
•Information revolution has empowered employees, consumers
and citizens
Followers have important moral responsibilities
The Ethical Challenges of Followership
•
•The Challenge of Obligation: meeting minimal expectations but not
giving too much
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
•
•The Challenge of Obedience: deciding when to obey or disobey orders
•
•The Challenge of Cynicism: maintaining healthy skepticism while
avoiding unhealthy cynicism
•
•The Challenge of Dissent: knowing when and how to express
disagreement
•
•The Challenge of Bad News: having the courage to admit problems
and failures
Meeting the Moral Demands of Followership: Principles and Strategies
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•Strategies: Overview
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•Overcome unhealthy motivations
•
•Act in an exemplary manner
•
•Engage with leaders
•
•Demonstrate courage and support
•
•Manage up and lead up
•
•Blow the whistle on unethical behavior
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Overcoming Unhealthy Motivations
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•Premise : we seek leaders for the wrong reasons
•
•Strategies for avoiding dependency on toxic leaders
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•Recognize that anxiety is a fact of life
•
•Learn to act independently (become proactive)
•
•Demand leaders who tell the truth
•
•Beware of leaders with grandiose visions
•
•Don’t let a few individuals self-select for top positions
•
•Recognize susceptible followers—conformers who obey out of fear and
colluders who willingly obey
•
•Conformers: lost souls (needy followers)
•
•Conformers: authoritarians (unquestioning belief in the leader’s
power)
•
•Conformers: bystanders (passive, motivated by fear)
•
•Colluders: opportunists (follow for power, status, money)
•
•Colluders: acolytes (true believers who share the values and
goals of the toxic leader)
Servant (Exemplary) Followership
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Premise : servant followers seek to be followers, not leaders
Follower dimensions
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oIndependent/critical thinking
o
oActive engagement with leaders
Follower Types
o
oPassive—little original thought or engagement
o
oConformist—engaged but have to be told what to do
o
oAlienated—highly independent thinkers with minimal
commitment
o
oPragmatic—moderate in independent thinking and
engagement
o
oExemplary--demonstrate independent, critical thinking and
active engagement
Becoming an exemplary follower
o
oLead yourself
o
oCommit and focus
o
oDevelop competence and credibility
o
oUse your courageous conscience
o
oDisagree agreeably
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Engaged Followership
•
•Premise : some level of follower engagement is better than no
engagement at all. Good followers serve the public interest, not sel8sh
interest
•
•Levels of engaged followers
•
•Isolates: barely followers; detached and alienated
•
•Bystanders: low level of engagement
•
•Participants: moderate level of engagement
•
•Activists: highly engaged with their leaders in support or
opposition
•
•Diehards: most engaged; willing to risk all
•
•Tips for followers faced with poor leadership
•
•Oppose bad leadership as soon as it appears
•
•Gather information and resources and join forces with other
followers
Courageous Followership
•
•Premise : followership requires courage (accepting a higher level of
risk)
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
•
•Five Types of Follower Courage
•
•The Courage to Assume Responsibility: fulfill obligations
•
•The Courage to Serve: actively support leaders behind the
scenes
•
•The Courage to Challenge: confront inappropriate leader
behavior
•
•The Courage to Participate in Transformation: help leaders
change ingrained bad habits
•
•The Courage to Leave: depart when the follower fails or those in
leadership won’t change
Courageous Followership
•
•Courage also means supporting the leader
•
•View yourself as a partner with the leader
•
•Types of Supportive Followers
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•Partners who provide high challenge and support
•
•Individualistic followers who challenge but don’t support
•
•Resource followers who do just enough to get by
•
•Implementer followers who are very supportive but rarely
challenge leaders
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Authentic Followership
•
•Premise : need authentic followers as well as authentic leaders
•
•To become an authentic follower
•
•Develop psychological ownership based on a sense of belonging,
a sense of accountability, and a sense of e<cacy (can do the job
required)
•
•Foster trust by owning up to shortcomings
•
•Practice transparency by being honest
Managing Up/Leading Up
•
•Managing your boss = working with your superior to get the best
possible results for everyone
Understand the boss
Understand your own strengths and weaknesses
Learn how to blend working styles together
Leading up = exceeding expectations and bringing added value
Have a bias for action
Take initiative while keeping the leader informed
Craig E. Johnson, Organizational Ethics, Third Edition
Instructor Resource
Whistle-Blowing
•
•Definition: remain in the organization but take concerns about abuse
to outsiders
•
•Whistle-blowers pay a high price for speaking up
•
•Takes both courage and careful reasoning
•
•Three moral concerns for whistleblowers
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•Dissent: must determine if the benefit to society justify going
forward
•
•Loyalty: must determine if breaking loyalty with co-workers and
the organization is justi8ed
•
•Accusation: must determine if the charges are accurate, if the
public has a right to know, and the motive for coming forward
Organizations can encourage whistleblowers by responding to their
