Robert Kelly (1992), a researcher of leadership theory, divides different types of followers according to two dimensions: one dimension is independence, critical thinking or dependence, and non-critical thinking; Another dimension is about people's job participation, with active followers at one end and negative followers at the other. Kelly believes that excellent followers should be active and able to work consciously, while passive pursuers who may even evade their responsibilities need the continuous supervision of leaders.
According to these two dimensions, Kelly divides followers into the following five categories.
(1) alienated followers. They are used to pointing out the negative aspects of the organization to others, and are usually regarded as negative, hostile and cynical. I think it is normal not to follow the crowd and be skeptical about the organization.
(2) followers who follow the rules. They are used to saying "yes" in the organization. Although they can become active leaders, due to the lack of independent critical thinking, they will not refuse if they accept instructions that are contrary to social code of conduct and organizational policies, which may bring danger to the organization. This kind of pursuers mostly correspond to authoritarian leadership, which is easy to appear in too rigid organizational structure.
(3) actual followers. Practical followers usually don't want to attract attention, often behave mediocre in the organization, and rarely have a high sense of identity with the goals of their own group, but they also choose to obey. In an organization, usually ambiguous pragmatists may be proficient in bureaucratic rules and use them to protect themselves.
(4) passive followers. This kind of follower usually relies on the leader to design everything for himself, which is extremely dependent. At the same time, they lack enthusiasm, initiative and corresponding sense of responsibility In the eyes of leaders, they may be lazy or even incompetent. This is related to the expectations and leadership style of leaders.
(5) model followers. This is a follower who can integrate his own ideas into his work, has critical thinking and is independent and active at the same time. They can use their talents and abilities to organize themselves, even in the face of bureaucratic or negative colleagues' constraints. Effective leaders can recognize the value of such followers. Model followers score high in all dimensions, which is very important for the success of the organization. Therefore, leaders should pay attention to choosing or cultivating model followers.
Extended reading
Identification dimension of model followers
Dimension 1: A wide range of knowledge.
Randall Maiyundi of IBM has been trying to broaden his business field. "I have been protecting my general background," he said. "I also manage my career and try to gain wider experience. For example, when I was the vice president of enterprise development in GTE company, I was responsible for human resources management in several departments. If the positions involved are relatively narrow, I will not accept it. "
Stephen King felt the same way. He is the human resources director of Hewitt Consulting. In fact, it is not an easy job to be an HR supervisor in a human resources consulting company. But he thinks: "I don't think I am in human resource management. I am very interested in the company itself and how to make money, which helped me win the trust of the company leaders. Understand the situation of the whole company and know the problems of employees like the back of your hand. "
How can I become a generalist? Early in your career, you should try your best to get involved in many fields. Take the time to understand the company's strategy, organizational system and operation mode, and be aware of it. Read a wide range of business books and periodicals; Get out of the office-make sure you have enough time to do the actual work. A human resources supervisor asked his subordinates to spend at least half of their working time doing practical things. He said: "If you don't go out of the office and spend half your working time in contact with leaders, supervisors, employees and even customers, you haven't finished your work. This is the only way to truly understand the business. "
Dimension 2: Good at listening.
A reporter once asked Picasso, a Spanish artist, what he thought of large computers. Picasso replied, "The computer is useless, it can only give you answers." Indeed, when many people think they are experts in authoritative knowledge, they want to tell and are willing to provide answers. However, a reliable consultant should first ask key questions and listen carefully. Ezra Singh is executive vice president of human resources at Verizon Communications. He said, "You must listen carefully and let others express their opinions. Try to understand why people say' no' at first, and see if you can find a way to achieve it. Remember, the initial rejection does not mean permanent rejection. "
Yvonne Jackson is a former senior vice president of human resources at Compaq. She thinks listening is an important way to accumulate company information. "I often have meetings with employees in the office. I asked them three questions-"What do you do? What is one of the reasons for not sleeping at night? What attracts you to Compaq? These meetings and survey data give me a clear understanding of the company culture, which measures are effective and which measures are ineffective. "
Listening carefully requires self-knowledge and a modest and studious attitude. If you don't know your sensitive problems and preferences, you can't really listen and empathize. If you think you can't learn from others, you will shut others out. However, this does not mean that the HR director as a consultant cannot have his own position and suggestions. As Dean Bruce of Toys R Us said, "A reliable consultant is not a neutral person-you are more than just an echo board. In the end, we must have our own opinions and have the courage and ability to express. "
Dimension 3: You can see the whole picture.
The truly valuable people are those who can see the big picture. Global view ability refers to the ability to discover laws, identify relationships, generate new ideas from old data, transform problems and grasp key points in complex situations. Sue Oliver of American Airlines said, "I spend 65,438+00% of my time on my strategic role and advisory role. I intend to spend 25% of my time assisting other company leaders, and have the opportunity to play the role of echo board and planner in cross-functional issues and leadership talent training. Because the greatest value of my work is to use the creativity and insight of American aviation leaders to promote the future success of American aviation. " Ezra Singh of Verizon Communications said: "I can really bring value to strategic issues, such as training leaders and improving employee efficiency."
How to cultivate the overall thinking ability? Try to consider the problem from the following aspects: highlight the key issues with a simplified framework; Try to understand the problem from multiple angles and deeply understand the views of major supporters; Hands-on, to ensure that you can get first-hand information about the details of the problem; Take more time to reflect. Creative ideas usually flash in the reflection after rest or intense work.
Dean Blos once said frankly, "When I was 16 years old, I found a fireman as my football coach in new york. I still have his words: "Don't trip over the grass on the way to the goal line." I can always catch good ideas and think about the possible impact of something on the company. If you want to be a partner in the eyes of the CEO, you must act like a partner. "
Finally, I would like to remind you that a reliable "leader-consultant" relationship is usually formed at a critical moment. Almost all human resources executives can recall one or two key events, which provided them with opportunities to make greater contributions to the company and further deepened their relationship with executives.
Dimension 4: Plan well
"Value-added" and "measurable results" have become the mantra of CEO, and shareholders are putting increasing pressure on CEO to increase their income and profits. Dean Bruce is currently the executive vice president of human resources at Toys R Us. He was the human resources director of Citigroup, and worked under john reid and Sandy Weil. He said: "At Citigroup, I made a real bottom line policy-I learned to pay close attention to things that can improve economic efficiency and push the enterprise forward quickly." Singh of Verizon Communications commented: "My task is not to introduce many new projects, but to connect everything I want to do with corporate goals."
How to gain a foothold in the enterprise? A good starting point is to understand the strategic objectives, business objectives and financial objectives of the enterprise, so as to lay a solid foundation for yourself and thoroughly study the hard and soft effects of every proposal submitted to the management. ?
Dimension 5: Speak frankly.
Walter Reston was the legendary CEO of Citigroup in the 1970s. He once talked about the role of a reliable consultant as an honest broker and a practical agent: "The CEO of a large enterprise is often divorced from reality. You have your own jet, someone makes coffee for you, and people around you are afraid to give you good news. You need a consultant to tell you what the reality is. " The CEO of another large bank once said something similar, "I divide all the experts who work with me into two categories: one is obedient to me and the other is independent." The latter is the talent I really value. "
On this issue, Dean Blos recalled an experience that had a great influence on his future development: "I just graduated from Ingersoll Rand and worked in a place that did not accept trade unions. I soon found that the only way to be influential is to speak frankly-to tell the truth, to be outspoken. People like to chat with me because of this. Tell the truth' has become my secret weapon. "Many people mistakenly believe that being outspoken will hinder their development in the enterprise. However, in most cases, the opposite is true. Being outspoken and confident is the prerequisite for being a reliable consultant.
How to be honest and upright? It depends on whether you are willing to take risks. Beneath the outspoken appearance, there must be honest behavior and firm belief-you must know your principles and be willing to abide by them. The CEO may be very independent and have a personality. To convince them, they need to communicate actively, persevere and strengthen their beliefs. In addition, to be honest with the boss and win the trust of the executives is the basis for establishing a reliable relationship between the consultants and the executives.
Dimension 6: Become a bosom friend
What is the most trusted advisor for business leaders? The first thing many people mention is caution. In addition, looking at the overall situation, the ability to maintain an objective attitude is also in the forefront, but the ability to keep secrets is at the forefront. In this regard, consultants often face a difficult problem: they must be reliable confidants of the CEO and other department heads. Otherwise, how can they understand the development of enterprises and the current policies or the development needs of executives? If they don't keep close relationship with the CEO's direct subordinates, how can they help the CEO when they encounter problems such as successor arrangement and leadership training?
Gerrit Claisen, president of human resources at Philips Electronics, a $6 billion medical equipment company, gave some advice: "You play a special role-you have to maintain good relations with other executives, but sometimes you need to talk to the CEO about these people. If you are upright and upright, you can take care of all parties. If I think it is necessary to report the problem to the CEO, I will say,' I suggest we talk openly about this problem'. " As a consultant of CEO, we should establish a relationship of mutual trust with superior leaders, colleagues and subordinates. Only by consistently being honest, reliable and cautious can we win everyone's trust.