Global Followership Conference

1. Exploring Women's Followership Perceptions in the Workplace: A Comparative Pilot Study of Generation Z and Older Generations Between Different Eastern and Western Culture - A. Hocagil, Q. Nabi, & H. Ozyurek
   This qualitative pilot study focuses on understanding and comparing women’s perceptions of followership between different generations and cultural contexts. It aims to provide insights into how generational differences and cultural backgrounds influence women’s understanding, behaviors, and enactment of followership in workplace environments. The study centers on two distinct generational cohorts, Generation Z (ages 20-25) and older generations (26-65) and examines their perspectives within the cultural frameworks of the Western and Eastern contexts. 
2. Advancing Intergenerational Learning and Proactive Followership Through Multigenerational ERGs - K. Perham-Lippman & A. T. Cenkci
   Workplace generational stereotypes can impact collaboration, communication, and knowledge-sharing. This study explores how multigenerational Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) facilitate intergenerational learning, support knowledge transfer, and foster proactive followership. Using qualitative interviews with ERG members from two global companies in manufacturing and aerospace defense, the research examines how ERGs function as peer-driven spaces where employees take initiative in mentoring, knowledge-sharing, and ERG-driven initiatives. Findings may provide insight into the challenges and benefits of ERG participation, informing organizations on how ERGs contribute to generational diversity, strengthen mentoring programs, and encourage proactive followership in employee-led groups.
3. Effective Follower Behaviors in a GLOBE(al) Context: A Middle Management Perspective - J. Strong
   Prominent researchers in followership have established the lack of research on followers and their visibility in organizational leadership research, but also missing from research is the point of view of the middle manager. This exploratory study sought to understand the perspective of effective follower behavior from the viewpoint of middle managers of an international organization. Inductive analysis yielded seven emergent themes. In this international organization, middle managers identified that effective followers engage in task and relational behaviors. While elements of these themes can be seen cross-organizationally, the physical location of the follower/leader changes the perception of effective follower behaviors.

This session will focus on getting your followership work published. In addition to discussion of possible publication outlets, we will provide insights on the submission and review processes. The presenters have served as journal and book series editors and have published their work on leadership and followership in numerous outlets, including both scholarly journals and books, and more popular venues. In this interactive session, we will also hear from the audience about their past experiences and help them to chart a way forward. If you need direction on getting your followership work ready and out to the public, please join us.

1. The Power of Voice: Exploring Social Identity and Follower Constructive Voice Behavior - G. Malone & D. Alegbeleye
   This session explores follower constructive voice behavior, the act of speaking up to challenge the status quo and advocate for change, through the lens of social identity. This presentation examines the literature to identify gaps and calls for inclusive leadership practices that incorporate diverse lived experiences into organizational learning. By understanding how social identity influences follower constructive voice behavior, organizations can foster resilient, proactive followership and leverage diverse perspectives to drive meaningful, systemic change.
2. From What You Need to Who You Are: Psychological Needs and Follower Role Identity - L. Haney
   What do people seek out when they take on the role of leader or follower? Is it a desire to influence or connect with others? To find success or master their environment? This research presentation aims to explore the complex relationship between five psychological needs and role selection within group activities. The data reveals patterns that answer why people choose their roles in the first place, how exercising that choice satisfies or frustrates needs, and how that process ultimately leads to role-identity formation. In addition, we will consider the implications of using individual psychology within followership development contexts.
3. Developing a Followership Identity: A Grounded Theory - D. Jenkins & M. Gray
   This grounded theory study investigates how individuals develop their followership identity within organizational contexts. Through interviews with 16 undergraduate students identified as exemplary team members, the research reveals a six-stage developmental progression from pre-team awareness to adaptive followership. Analysis identifies three fundamental themes shaping this development: formative influences, evolving team dynamics, and sustained engagement factors. The findings demonstrate how followership identity evolves from hierarchical understanding to sophisticated systemic awareness through recursive development cycles. This research extends existing frameworks by illuminating specific developmental stages while offering practical implications for organizational development programs.

1. Correlating Critical Thinking Behaviors to Kelley’s Independent/Critical Thinking Dimension: Becoming the Followership QUEEN - J. Strong
   Followership scholars must seek empirical connections and develop behaviorally anchored followership competencies such as critical thinking. Although critical thinking has been identified as one of the essential skills needed for success, many employers find that skill lacking, emphasizing the importance of developing this behavior. This study examined the relationship between Kelley’s independent/critical thinking dimension and the five behaviorally anchored constructs of the QUEEN Critical Thinking Model. The findings of this study show statistically significant positive correlations between Kelly's dimension of independent/critical thinking and all five constructs of the QUEEN Critical Thinking Model. Thus, moving Kelly's dimensions from descriptive to developmental.
2. The State of Followership in Leadership Education - D. Alegbeleye & O. Ofumwengbe
   In this study, we analyzed the curricula of 85 leadership education programs in the United States to explore the extent to which leadership educators and trainers incorporate followership into their programs and how it is represented and described in their curricula. Findings revealed a scarcity of followership courses in leadership education curricula. Even when followership is taught, it is often presented as a topic rather than a standalone course. These findings provide valuable insights into the current state of followership in leadership education.
3. Who’s Adapting to Whom or What?  The Role of Followership in Adaptative Leadership - K. B. Lowe & R. Riggio
   Interest in the construct of adaptive leadership has grown markedly amongst scholars and practitioners. While the offering of adaptive leadership training by practitioners appears to have run far ahead of scholarly theorizing around what adaptive leadership entails and how we should measure its key variables, there is broad agreement about various elements of adaptive leaders(hip). Largely missing from these narratives are the role of followers in the need for, or the enabling of, adaptive leadership. The central question we seek to interrogate in this session is: How should we model followers(hip) in the study of adaptive leadership? (97 words).
4. How does followership measure up? A new measure of followership behaviour expectations - R. Sims
   Despite growing interest in followership in the management literature there is not yet an agreed, well validated, measure of followership behaviours. This presentation summarises my development and testing of a new measure of expectations held about followership behaviours.

1. 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.
2. 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.

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

While leadership has been extensively studied, the significance of followership has gained increasing recognition in recent years (Uhl-Bien et al., 2014). The panel will explore the value of generative dialogue and psychological safety in leadership and followership relationships. The panelists experienced shifting roles as leaders and followers within their professional relationships in the academy. They fostered psychologically safe environments where generative dialogue is expected when working with teams, colleagues, and followers. The session will be facilitated by a research consultant colleague. The team will share insights into effective practices and challenges for leaders and followers.