Developing Leaders: Just Don’t Forget About the Followers!
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33423/jmpp.v26i1.7574Keywords:
management policy, leadership, followership, leadership development, rotational programs, changeAbstract
Prior research has presented the positive effects of leadership training programs, but the knowledge of how these types of programs affect organizational followers is limited. Here, we expand on conclusions from a study that explored how organizational followers perceive leadership change and present a practical guide for organizations that use leader rotations as a leadership development strategy. This practical guide is built on four distinct themes offered by the organizational follower: leader expectations and engagement, organizational culture, communication, and consistency. Our findings reveal how the organizational follower perceives leadership change while offering insight into how to combat this practice's perceived negative influence on the followers within an organization. By acknowledging the advice given here, the global organization may reduce the adverse effects the organizational followers feel when subjected to frequent leader changes while still developing their future leaders' skills.
References
Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Avolio, B. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for leadership theory-building. American Psychology, 62, 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.25
Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 421–429. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163621
Barrett, D. (2002) Change communication: using strategic employee communication to facilitate major change. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 7(4), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563280210449804
Berg, B. (2007). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (6th ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc.
Brown, C.T., Njouondo, E., Viltz, D., & Bell, R.L. (2023). Effective leaders are trained – Not born! Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 24(1), 32–40.
Classum. (2023). Scaling up L&D: Elevate your rotational program. Retrieved from https://medium.com/classum-global/scaling-up-l-d-elevate-your-rotational-program e04b6c222b17
Craig, N., & Snook, S. (2014). From purpose to impact: Figure out your passion and put it to work. Harvard Business Review, 92(5), 105–112.
Creary, S., Caza, B., & Roberts, L. (2015). Out of the box? How managing a subordinate’s multiple identities affects the quality of a manager-subordinate relationship. Academy of Management Review, 40(4), 538–562. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0101
Dailey, S.L. (2016). I’m new… again: Reconceptualizing the socialization process through rotational programs. Communication Studies, 67(2), 183–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2016.1145130
Davis, J., & Eisenhardt, K. (2011). Rotating leadership and collaborative innovation: Recombination processes in symbiotic relationships. Administrative Science Quarterly, 56(2), 159–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839211428
Day, D.V., Fleenor, J.W., Atwater, L.E., Sturm, R.E., & McKee, R.A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership: A review of 25 years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.004
Erez, A., Lepine, J., & Elms, H. (2002). Effects of rotated leadership and peer evaluation on the functioning and effectiveness of self-managed teams: A quasi-experiment. Personnel Psychology, 55, 929–948. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2002.tb00135.x
Erez, M., & Shokef, E. (2008). The culture of global organizations. The handbook of cross-cultural
management research, pp. 285–300. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412982764.n17
Galli, E., & Muller-Stewens, G. (2012). How to build social capital with leadership development: Lessons from an explorative case study of a multibusiness firm. Leadership Quarterly, 23, 176–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.11.014
Gallo, S. (2020). Job rotation programs: Key benefits and best practices. Retrieved from https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/job-rotation-programs-key-benefits and-best-practices/
Gino, F., & Staats, B. (2015). Why organizations don’t learn. Harvard Business Review, 93(11), 111–118.
Hill, L., Brandeau, G., Truelove, E., & Lineback, K. (2014). Collective genius: No longer casting themselves as solo visionaries, smart leaders are rewriting the rules of innovation. Harvard Business Review, 92(6), 95–102.
Hirsch, A.S. (2023). How to implement a job rotation program. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/topicstools/news/organizational-employee-development/how-to-implement-job-rotation-program
Kellerman, B. (2008). Followership. How followers are creating change and changing leaders. Harvard Business School Press.
Kelley, R.E. (1992). The power of followership: How to create leaders people want to follow and followers who lead themselves. Currency Doubleday.
Kerns, C.D. (2020). Managing wisdom: A practice-oriented leadership framework. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 21(5), 9–27. https://doi.org/10.33423/jmpp.v21i5.3871
Kim, J., Song, E., & Lee, S. (2013). Organizational change and employee organizational identification: Mediation of perceived uncertainty. Social Behavior and Personality, 41(6), 1019–1034. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2013.41.6.1019
Lorsch, J., & McTague, E. (2016). Culture is not the culprit. Harvard Business Review, 94(4), 96–105.
Lunsford, L. & Padilla, A. (2022). Leadership: Leaders, Followers, Environments. World Scientific.
Mercer. (2019). Leadership Development Trends 2019. Newark, DE: Mercer Mettl.
Morrison, A. (2000). Developing a global leadership model. Human Resources Management, 39(2–3), 117–131. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-050X(200022/23)39:2/3<117::AID-HRM3>3.0.CO;2-1
Porath, C. (2016). Managing yourself: An antidote to incivility. Harvard Business Review, 94(4), 108–111.
Reeves, M., Levin, S., & Ueda, D. (2016). The biology of corporate survival: Natural ecosystems hold surprising lessons for business. Harvard Business Review, 94(1–2), 47–55.
Saruhan, N. (2014). The role of corporate communication and perception of justice during organizational change process. Business and Economics Research Journal, 5(4), 143–166.
Scott, C. (2010). Perceptions of leadership under conditions of environmental uncertainty. Journal of American Academy of Business, 16(1), 30–35.
Sheard, A., Kakabadse, A., & Kakabadse, N. (2009). Role as a mechanism for rotating leadership in a group. Journal of Management Development, 28(6), 542–549. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710910959701
Smith, A. (2019). Developing future leaders with rotational programs. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/develop-future-leaders-rotational-programs
Smith, W., Lewis, M., & Tushman, M. (2016). “Both/and” leadership: Don’t worry so much about being consistent. Harvard Business Review, 94(5), 63–70.
Still, D., Homkes, R., & Sull, C. (2015). Why strategy execution unravels and what to do about it. Harvard Business Review, 93(3), 58–66.
Swanson, R., & Holton, E. (2005). Research in organizations: Foundations and methods of inquiry. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Taylor, M., & Hill, N. (2007). The role of affect and leadership during radical organizational change. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2007(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2007.26530920
Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R., Lowe, K., & Carsten, M. (2014). Followership theory: A review and research agenda. Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007
Vongswasdi, P., Leroy, H., Claeys, J., Anisman-Razin, M., & van Dierendonck, D. (2024). Beyond developing leaders: Toward a multinarrative understanding of the value of leadership development programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 23(1), 8–40. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2021.0231
Young, S.P., Baker, V.L., Lyndon, A., Tolstikov-Mast, Y. (2024). Developing leaders through rotational programs: What is the cost to followers? Global Business & Organizational Excellence, 43(3), 72–88. https://doi.org/10.1002/joe.22240
Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Please review our Copyright Notice.
