TEAM MANAGEMENT Work accomplishment is from

committed people; interdependence through a “common stake” in

organization purpose leads to relationships of trust and respect.

AUTHORITY COMPLIANCE Efficiency in operations results from

arranging conditions of work in such a way that human elements

interfere to a minimum degree

MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD MANAGEMENT

Adequate organization performance is possible through balancing the necessity to get out the work with maintaining morale of

people at a satisfactory level.

High

Low High

Low

Figure 2.3 The Leadership Grid38

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Leadership and Followership Communication Styles 55

generally adopt a 5,5 leadership communication style but might shift to a 9,1 style when pressured to get orders out to an important customer.

The most effective leadership communication style, according to Blake and McCanse, is team management (9,9). Implementation of the 9,9 style in organi- zational contexts is associated with increased productivity and profitability, increased frequency of communication, and improved leader-follower relations.39

Follower Communication Styles Followers, like leaders, need to understand their communication styles to

carry out their roles successfully.40 In this section we’ll examine three systems for categorizing followers. Each typology provides insights into the character- istics of ineffective and effective followers; each offers guidelines for function- ing more effectively in the followership role.

Engaged Followers Political scientist Barbara Kellerman places followers along a continuum

based on how willing they are to engage with their leaders and with their fel- low followers.41

Isolates are the least engaged followers. In fact, they barely qualify as fol- lowers because they don’t care about their leaders or communicate with them. The millions of Americans who don’t vote are isolates as are the members of a club that never show up for meetings. Isolates, by refusing to become involved, empower leaders and other, more engaged, followers to make deci- sions for them.

Bystanders observe what is going on but do not actively participate. Many citizens in Nazi Germany acted as bystanders by refusing to oppose Hitler. They stood by as the nation’s leadership plunged the world into war and slaughtered millions in concentration camps. Some employees at Penn State University apparently stood aside instead of intervening when they suspected that a long-time assistant football coach was sexually abusing children (see chapter 13). By standing aside, followers allow the status quo to continue.

Participants are moderately engaged with their leaders and organizations, offering support or opposition. Employees at Merck were supportive partici- pants when they developed and marketed the painkiller Vioxx despite con- cerns about its safety. Later the drug was withdrawn from the market because it dramatically increased the likelihood of heart attacks in patients. Members of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which protests the growing gap between the rich and the poor, could be categorized as oppositional participants.

Activists are motivated by strong feelings about their leaders. They are energetic and highly engaged, working to serve or to undermine their leaders. The students who moved to new communities to organize Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign were supportive activist followers. In contrast, opposition activists make up the Catholic lay group Voice of the Faithful. This organization played a key role in removing Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law for his mishandling of the priest sex abuse scandal.

Hackman