The power of We in followership: strategies for followership development

Abstract

In this special issue of Industrial and Commercial Training, we focus on the importance of enabling collaborative followership practices within organizations and consider ways in which development and training can help to achieve and support this. There is a widely acknowledged disparity between leadership and followership studies, despite the two being so interconnected (Hollander, 1992; Hurwitz and Hurwitz, 2015). In academia, we see endless leadership-based publications, research and study opportunities. In practice, we see an emphasis on obtaining formal leadership positions and engaging in training opportunities to develop such skills. And yet, regrettably, the same cannot be said for followership despite the increasing body of research suggesting that followership has a critical impact on workplace relationships (Hoption, 2016; Hurwitz and Hurwitz, 2009a) and effectiveness (Hurwitz and Hurwitz, 2015; Sy et al., 2006). Without such opportunities to talk and relate to followership, the ability to develop followership training remains a difficult endeavour that few attempt. This issue will continue the conversation of followership within Industrial and Commercial Training, drawing on previously published papers that have provided insightful discussions around the need to enable followership to “flourish” (Bufalino, 2018, p.55) and those behaviours considered effective for followership (Manning and Robertson, 2016) and tools to do so (Hurwitz andHurwitz, 2009b).