Once he had isolated the key characteristics of followership, Kelley then developed the questionnaire found in box 2.6. Followers fall into one of five categories based on how they respond to the independent thinking and active engagement sections of this test. Alienated followers are highly independent thinkers who put most of their energies into fighting rather than serving their organizations because they’ve become disillusioned with their leaders or feel unappreciated. Alienated followers provide a dose of healthy skepticism for the group but generally come off as cynical. An example of an alienated fol- lower would be the class critic who sits in the back of the room and continu- ally challenges what the instructor has to say. In contrast, conformists are committed to organizational goals but express few thoughts of their own. These followers (often referred to as “yes men/women” in popular culture) may hold back their ideas out of fear or deference to authority. Pragmatists are moderately independent and engaged. Pragmatism is a way of coping with organizational uncertainty caused by frequent changes of leadership, layoffs, and restructuring. These organizational survivors hold on to their jobs but are not likely to be promoted. Passive followers demonstrate little original thought or commitment. They rely heavily on the leader’s direction and meet only min- imal expectations. Their passivity may stem from a lack of skills or be a response to serving under authoritarian leaders. Passive followers can be found at many fast-food restaurants where teenagers with limited job experi-

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Leadership and Followership Communication Styles 57

Box 2.6 Self-Assessment Followership Style Questionnaire43

For each statement, think of a followership situation and how you acted. Choose a number from 0 to 6 to indicate the extent to which the statement describes you. 0 indicates rarely applies and 6 indicates almost always.

____ 1. Does your work help you fulfill some societal goal or personal dream that is important to you?

____ 2. Are your personal work goals aligned with the organization’s priority goals?

____ 3. Are you highly committed to and energized by your work and organization, giving them your best ideas and performance?

____ 4. Does your enthusiasm also spread to and energize your coworkers?

____ 5. Instead of waiting for or merely accepting what the leader tells you, do you personally identify which organizational activities are most critical for achieving the organization’s priority goals?

____ 6. Do you actively develop a distinctive competence in those critical activities so that you become more valuable to the leader and the organization?

____ 7. When starting a new job or assignment, do you promptly build a record of successes in tasks that are important to the leader?

____ 8. Can the leader give you a difficult assignment without the benefit of much supervision, knowing that you will meet your deadline with highest-quality work and that you will “fill in the cracks” if need be?

____ 9. Do you take the initiative to seek out and successfully complete assignments that go above and beyond your job?

____ 10. When you are not the leader of a group project, do you still contribute at a high level, often doing more than your share?

____ 11. Do you independently think up and champion new ideas that will contribute signifi- cantly to the leader’s or the organization’s goals?