A session for professional trainers, educators and consultants, who would like to be able to deliver, or deepen their current delivery, of the core material of The Courageous Follower in formal training to classes, groups and private or public sector organizations. Please consider this a master class. You should be very familiar with the principles and models of courageous followership. Questions you bring to the class should focus on how to deepen your capacity to develop courageous followership in others, rather than on how to understand it yourself. For those who regularly teach courageous followership as part of leading and following, no further preparation should be needed. For those who aspire to do so, but have not yet had the opportunity, or only do so occasionally, please review the book, The Courageous Follower, in the weeks prior to the conference. You may also choose to watch some of the videos available at www.irachaleffauthor.com. Everyone should have at least once taken the Followership Styles Assessment. This preparation will allow us to move at a brisk pace through the fundamentals and nuances of effectively developing courageous follower awareness, behaviors and skills.
This innovative session uses LEGO Serious Play methodology to challenge traditional hierarchical perspectives on followership. Participants will explore how effective followership serves as the foundation for organizational success through hands-on building exercises and metaphorical storytelling.
While followership research is increasingly becoming popular, its literature is thinly dispersed, making it difficult to find. Thus, Virginia Tech, through a mini-grant and two years of research, is building a digital followership collection with the goal of supporting and advancing the field. This session will introduce participants to the platform, share its potential benefits across contexts, and demonstrate the prospect of artificial intelligence for sustaining the field of followership.
Eric Kaufman is a dedicated leadership educator and scholar. He researches and promotes best practices for collective leadership, with special emphasis on problem solving and team development. Dr. Kaufman’s work advances social science in a variety of contexts, with past projects... Read More →
Resisting Competently: A Mixed Methods Study of Reactions to Ethical Followership - K. Payne When facing an unethical request from a leader, the leadership literature suggests that a follower may comply with the leader, thereby engaging in unethical followership. Or they may resist the leader, thereby engaging in ethical followership. What do ethical followers actually do to resist, and what outcomes do they generate? Based on a mixed methods approach, this paper contributes a revised theoretical framework for ethical followership, a set of four variables that may moderate or mediate the relationship between ethical follower behaviors and outcome variables, and previously unexamined behaviors and categories of behaviors.
The Interplay of Followers' Ethical Beliefs and How Those Beliefs Intersect, Influence, and Shape the Values and Ethical Behavior of Other Followers - R. Thomas Ethical followers expect leaders to be ethical and possess the traits of honesty, loyalty, integrity, and sound decision-making skills, but do followers expect the same from each other? (Browne & Trevino, 2014). This presentation addresses how ethical followers influence not only leaders but other followers in the organization. Followers' play a critical and often overlooked role in creating and maintaining ethical conduct in organizations by setting an example for other followers.
Kyle is a professional speaker, coach, facilitator, and consultant. He develops leaders through engaging and highly-interactive workshops and has established a strong reputation for fostering a safe and productive learning environment for participants. He has published groundbreaking... Read More →
For all of the buzz around followership and its importance in any conversation about leadership, there are precious few followership courses offered at either universities or in corporate leadership training departments. Student feedback consistently reveals that followership content and courses rank highest in student engagement/learning within the leadership discipline at the co-presenters’ university. This interactive workshop has been refined, updated, and built upon the popular “teaching followership” workshop conducted at the 2024 Global Followership Conference, combines a variety of elements designed to engage participants, from short videos and group breakouts to discussion questions and hands-on table activities.
The median age of the U.S. STEM-skilled workforce is rapidly increasing, and proactive succession planning is needed to maintain leadership skill continuity in vital industries and occupations. Succession planning must begin to include followership development to support an uninterrupted pipeline of talent. The presentation will examine the intersection of succession management practices and followership behaviors that can enhance succession planning and leadership transitions in STEM occupations and leadership roles. A conceptual framework outlining the impacts of integrating followership development with succession and leadership transition planning in STEM professions will be presented with practical insights for cultivating beneficial followership behaviors.
A session for professional trainers, educators and consultants, who would like to be able to deliver, or deepen their current delivery, of the core material of The Courageous Follower in formal training to classes, groups and private or public sector organizations. Please consider this a master class. You should be very familiar with the principles and models of courageous followership. Questions you bring to the class should focus on how to deepen your capacity to develop courageous followership in others, rather than on how to understand it yourself. For those who regularly teach courageous followership as part of leading and following, no further preparation should be needed. For those who aspire to do so, but have not yet had the opportunity, or only do so occasionally, please review the book, The Courageous Follower, in the weeks prior to the conference. You may also choose to watch some of the videos available at www.irachaleffauthor.com. Everyone should have at least once taken the Followership Styles Assessment. This preparation will allow us to move at a brisk pace through the fundamentals and nuances of effectively developing courageous follower awareness, behaviors and skills.
This innovative session uses LEGO Serious Play methodology to challenge traditional hierarchical perspectives on followership. Participants will explore how effective followership serves as the foundation for organizational success through hands-on building exercises and metaphorical storytelling.
This moderated panel provides participants the opportunity to hear from three pioneers in the followership space who have successfully led programmatic and institutional level projects advancing followership. These developments include the Global Followership Conference, The Center for the Advancement of Followership, and the Followership Resource Digitization project. Panelists will share some of the obstacles encountered and strategies leveraged to overcome the hurdles. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own success stories as well as synthesize key principles and actions to facilitate their own followership advancement projects, furthering the followership movement.
Eric Kaufman is a dedicated leadership educator and scholar. He researches and promotes best practices for collective leadership, with special emphasis on problem solving and team development. Dr. Kaufman’s work advances social science in a variety of contexts, with past projects... Read More →
If role-clarity boosts partnership, perspective-taking promises to enhance role-agility and performance. This interactive session invites participants to learn from "preflecting," acting, and reflecting as we practice performing leader and follower roles in teams. Ideal for educators and practitioners, we'll explore themes in followership education and the benefits of "role-ing" within the process for leader-follower learning.
Succession planning is a strategic and often overlooked process that ensures the sustainability of leadership and followership within organizations. In the absence of effective succession planning, we risk losing not only future leaders but also the opportunity to empower followers to take on more active, engaged roles. This workshop will explore how succession planning functions as a bridge between leadership and followership, emphasizing its role in sustaining nonprofit and NGO organizations. It will include opportunities for attendees to share their best practices as well!
This interactive workshop explores the often-overlooked concept of Followership through the lens of empowerment and self-awareness. Participants will learn to cultivate effective followership using tools designed to deepen personal insight and foster organizational health. Coaches, trainers, leaders, and individuals seeking to develop a stronger sense of empowerment and purpose will benefit from this session. Key takeaways include understanding the language of empowerment and creating the self-awareness necessary for both leaders and followers to thrive. Participants will engage in live exercises, small-group discussions, personal reflection exercises, and real-life stories and scenarios to demonstrate principles and spark dialogue. Attendees will gain practical strategies they can immediately apply in their roles and organizations.
A session for professional trainers, educators and consultants, who would like to be able to deliver, or deepen their current delivery, of the core material of The Courageous Follower in formal training to classes, groups and private or public sector organizations. Please consider this a master class. You should be very familiar with the principles and models of courageous followership. Questions you bring to the class should focus on how to deepen your capacity to develop courageous followership in others, rather than on how to understand it yourself. For those who regularly teach courageous followership as part of leading and following, no further preparation should be needed. For those who aspire to do so, but have not yet had the opportunity, or only do so occasionally, please review the book, The Courageous Follower, in the weeks prior to the conference. You may also choose to watch some of the videos available at www.irachaleffauthor.com. Everyone should have at least once taken the Followership Styles Assessment. This preparation will allow us to move at a brisk pace through the fundamentals and nuances of effectively developing courageous follower awareness, behaviors and skills.
This innovative session uses LEGO Serious Play methodology to challenge traditional hierarchical perspectives on followership. Participants will explore how effective followership serves as the foundation for organizational success through hands-on building exercises and metaphorical storytelling.
This interactive session explores how traditional definitions of leaders and followers may unintentionally encourage passivity, potentially contributing to democratic erosion. Can a new definition of "follower" save democracy? And how can the followership community impact political engagement in democracies
This facilitated session explores how the human resource function can transition from a support function to a strategic partner by leveraging the power of followership. Participants will share interactive discussions and exercises to identify what they envision a more strategic role to be, how to pursue it using followership techniques, and what obstacles they will need to overcome along the way. Participants will leave with insights on where their HR function is going and how to get there with the help of followership.
Kyle is a professional speaker, coach, facilitator, and consultant. He develops leaders through engaging and highly-interactive workshops and has established a strong reputation for fostering a safe and productive learning environment for participants. He has published groundbreaking... Read More →
This workshop invites participants to explore how leaders and followers collaborate to co-create leadership. Participants begin by identifying and discussing their implicit ideas about this relationship. Then they engage in an activity to explore how their approach to following has contribute to the leadership that emerged in a past leadership situation. They then examine how changing their approach to following could alter the relationship and the leadership displayed between the leader and follower.
CEO/Owner - Business/HR Manager, CMF Leadership Consulting & Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office
Dr. Chris Fuzie is the Business/Human Resources Manager for the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s office, and owner of C.M.F. Leadership Consulting. Dr. Fuzie holds 4 separate copyrights and has published two books, “S.C.O.R.E. Performance Counseling: Save the Relationship... Read More →
Thursday May 29, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm PDT RS 102
This session will engage educators in a collaborative discussion on followership pedagogy, exploring key aspects such as texts and materials, course or workshop objectives, activities and assessments, challenges in teaching followership, and the integration of followership into the leadership curriculum.
Conflict isn’t just a leadership challenge—strong followership plays a critical role in transforming tension into progress. In this interactive session, we’ll explore how effective followers contribute to conflict resolution, strengthen team dynamics, and drive success. You’ll learn practical strategies for bringing up conflict, naming the difference between position and interest, and fostering collaboration even in high-stakes situations. Through real-world examples, participants will leave with a new perspective on conflict as a powerful force for positive change. This session will equip participants with the tools to turn conflict into an opportunity for growth.
An engaging facilitator and Polarity ThinkingTM Master Trainer, Lindsay brings a depth of knowledge and a global perspective that supports seeing the known in a new way. Lindsay will unpack the key concepts of Polarity Thinking and change how you think about leadership and followership... Read More →
Situational Followership: Incorporating Flexibility into Followership Typology - D. Alegbeleye As a way of addressing the rigidity inherent in followership typologies, this paper proposes a situational model of followership that describes how followers can adapt their followership style to both their leader and the situation. Five propositions were developed to explicate how four situational factors relate to the two major dimensions upon which most followership typologies are based: follower’s active engagement and follower’s constructive voice. The four situational factors explored in this paper include leaders’ inspirational behavior, leaders’ participative behavior, the psychological safety climate of the workplace, and followers’ psychological bravery. Moreover, a situational followership model was developed.
Developing Leadership and Followership Competencies: Analysis from a National Summer Camp Program - F. Kick This competency-based survey development research examines how interactive student leadership development programming at a U.S. summer camp can simultaneously develop leadership and followership competencies in secondary school students.
Followership and Authentic Leadership in Volunteer Organizations with a Paid Leader - J. Johnson This study explores the relationship between authentic leadership (AL) and followership in volunteer-based organizations led by a paid leader. Nonprofits, critical for addressing social issues, often rely on volunteers, which creates unique leadership challenges. Overemphasis on leader-centric models risks burnout and undermines organizational health. Authentic leaders, who demonstrate purpose, compassion, and relationship-building, positively influence followership and organizational effectiveness. Using a quantitative survey of 20 food pantry volunteers, the study revealed strong correlations between AL traits (compassion, relationship-building, passion) and increased follower engagement. While limited by sample size and nonparametric testing, findings affirm AL’s role in fostering volunteer commitment and suggest areas for further research.
Reimagining human function and management for human wholeness: The being-orientation model for the next-stage organizations - D. W. Ofumbi Followership and leadership are two sides of the same coin but for far too long we regarded followership as a subordinate rank, which is either nothing or a step toward leadership rather than a complementary role and discipline. The followership/leadership chasm stems from the human orientation of doing, which has dominated management theory since its inception. For us to restore the complementary relationship between followership and leadership in organizations, we must adopt the human orientation of being. So, this study introduces the human orientation of being to enhance human wholeness for human full life and work commitment in organizations.
A key challenge in shifting attitudes toward followership is the language we use to describe it. Almost all of the attendees at the Fourth Global Followership Conference have experienced negative blowback about our own “F-Word”. Unless we can articulate the value of followership in fundamentally different ways that are clear, compelling, and resonant, our effectiveness as change agents will remain limited. To address this challenge, we must develop language that counters the negative perceptions of followership—passivity, weakness, conformity, and more. In this workshop, Gloria Williams and Tim Hurson will guide participants through dynamic, hands-on activities designed to spark insights, generate actionable ideas, and draft first-pass ‘scripts’ for productive conversations about followership. By the end of the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to refine and test engaging, connection-rich discussions that highlight the tangible benefits of adopting a followership stance.
In third grade, Tim spread pasted sheets of paper, sticky-side up, on his classroom floor. He was thrilled with the results. Not much has changed, though he now focuses on more productive activities as an innovation consultant and facilitator for businesses and social purpose start-ups... Read More →
Internationally recognized tango artist and author of Lead & Follow: The Dance of Inspired Teamwork, Sharna teaches precise and effective leading and following skills from the ballroom to the boardroom. With playful movement exercises and physical awareness and communication techniques, you'll literally step into a leading and following epiphany in real time.
