Northouse, Leadership, 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
The Exemplary Follower
This course-long project asks students to find and interview exemplary followers in their
community. This can be a group research project or an individual project. This project may
require IRB approval for studying human subjects. The instructor should check the
institution’s policy.
The research can be scaffolded in stages over the term:
a. Where are the exemplary followers? Have students look up (a) employees on campus
d. Develop an interview protocol using concepts from Chapter 12. Example:
• What do you like about your job? About your company?
• What motivates you to give your best at work?
f. Analyze the followers’ characteristics, behaviors, and motivations. What patterns
emerge? What are the similarities and differences among exemplary followers? Are
g. Apply the findings to Figure 12.6—the Reversing the Lens Model. How do the data
explain how the arrows work in this model?
h. What takeaway lessons about followership are there from this event? What are some
best practices we can adopt in our own workplaces? What more would the students
like to learn about followership?
Northouse, Leadership, 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022