SCENARIO AND QUESTION

While there is so much focus on building your leadership skills, in reality you need to develop your followership skills as well. That's because, given the situation, you can be the leader or a follower. Organizations are looking for people who are versatile and can assume both roles as needed. Just as important as developing your leadership skills, you need to develop the characteristics and skills that will make you a good follower. What do you think are the three most important characteristics needed to be a good follower? Explain your reasoning for each.

ANSWER

It is just as important to know and learn how to be a good follower as it is to be a good leader, because without followers leaders have no one to back them. Three characteristics of a good follower are independent thinking, loyalty, and enthusiasm for the leader's cause.

While a lot of people will probably think the opposite, it is important to be an independent and critical thinker. This is because in order to be the best follower to help the cause/ leader, a follower needs to give feedback and ideas to help improve any goals or task. If you have someone who just blindly follows, leaders will have no one to correct and watch their actions.

Being loyal is another important trait of being a follower because it builds trust and comradery. If you truly believe in the leader or the cause, being loyal will help everyone be more productive and move the situation further (McQuade, Sarah).

In order to be a good follower, you not only need to believe in the leader and the cause but also have enthusiasm about it. This will help motivate yourself along with others around you. If you are enthusiastic and show that you fully believe in, support, and are excited for a cause it will make it easier for others to hear you out or even join what you are supporting (Kelley, Robert).

Being a follower can sometimes be more important than being the leader because followers are what build the cause and, like the video shows, gain the most amount of followers. In order to be a productive and good follower there are some important characteristics a person needs such as enthusiasm, loyalty, and independent thinking.

Kelley, Robert. "In Praise of Followers." Harvard Business Review, 1 Aug. 2014, https://hbr.org/1988/11/in-praise-of-followers.

McQuade, Sarah. "Why Good Followers Are Important, and 8 Qualities Good Followers Must Possess." USA Football, 18 Oct. 2017, https://blogs.usafootball.com/blog/4697/why-good-followers-are-important-and-8-qualities-good-followers-must-possess.

TASK

Reply to above answer. Reply needs to acknowledge the contributions of the writer and add value to the conversation. 150-Word Minimum. To do this, each reply should follow this 4-paragraph format.

Paragraph 1: State whether you agree/disagree and preview two reasons you think that

Paragraph 2: Explain the first reason

Paragraph 3: Explain the second reason

Paragraph 4: Summarize your reply By the way, you can agree with one characteristic a person gave and disagree with another. You do not have to agree or disagree with everything in the main post to which you are replying.