Less followership, less leadership? An inquiry into the basic but seemingly forgotten downsides of leadership

Abstract

Leadership is generally viewed as important and beneficial for individuals as well as organizations. The term, however, also implies followership and the targets for leadership may be less enthusiastic about adopting a follower position. From a follower’s point of view, there might be downsides associated with a leadership/followership relationship, including negative effects on identity and reduced autonomy. These often neglected downsides may lead to a dampening of the enthusiasm for leadership in practice and form a counterforce to the prevalence of leadership. This aversion towards followership may therefore mean ‘less’ leadership, for instance less salient ‘leader/follower’ qualities in relations and interactions than is generally assumed in leadership/followership studies.