1. The aspect of followership that is most appealing is the decreased risk taking required as a follower. The leader is seen as the one who pushes the envelope and takes on the risk of oncoming change. That aspect of leadership could be stressful because the leader is putting themselves on the line, whereas the follower is not the first person to put themselves out there. Just because they are the first does not mean that they cannot be a leader. By joining up with the leader facilitating the change, more people will be motivated to join the cause, so the follower can also be considered a leader without as much of the risk. One thing that is unattractive about being a follower is the thought of being invisible to coworkers an upper management.…show more content… My classmates and I share similar views on followership. It is necessary to have followership in order for leadership to occur. You cannot have an effective leader without first having effective followers. I believe that this would follow a nurse’s perspective on followership as well. I think that the nursing profession is very team oriented so many times you will be asked to take the follower position, while other times, you are required to take on the leadership position. I think this view is very different in an non-nursing profession or a predominately female field because outside of a few occupations, being a follower means not having a mind of your own. It means that you are not capable of making that next step to leadership because of lack of ability. Leadership is more of a title that you are given and less of a mindset to have, which gives certain people more power over others. The negative connotations that come with follower will keep the idea of followership as low…show more content… I think that is important for us to learn good followership and leadership skills. In the nursing profession, being able to communicate with others and work together in a cohesive way is crucial. This means that people cannot be talking over one another, with everyone trying to be the leader. We must all be the follower and leader in different situations in order to get the necessary work done and make sure our patients have excellent care. It is very important to have leaders in charge who are capable of helping inexperienced colleagues. One person may be knowledgeable in one area, but not in another. So, they would only be a leader in the situations which they are knowledgeable.
6. The principles outlined in “Meditation on Followership” could apply both to being a leader and being a follower. A follower is one who supports a good leader, but has leadership qualities to know when to stop following a bad leader. The leader is one who is willing to change their methods or behaviors if it means others will benefit. I think that these principles will be a good way to regularly remind myself of the intertwined relationship between the leader and the follower. I think it will be important to remind myself to stay grounded and remember that necessary followership
