followership

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableformalbusiness

   the way people behave as followers, especially the skills and attitude of supporting a leader well.

   Grammar: Uncountable: talk about good or poor followership, never 'a followership' or 'followerships'.

   Patterns

   • good followership
   • effective followership
   • followership skills
   • the role of followership

   The course teaches leadership, but it also looks at followership and how to support a manager well.

   Good followership means speaking up when a plan seems wrong, not just obeying orders.

   Researchers now study followership as carefully as they study leadership.

2. 2nouncountableformal

   the group of people who follow a particular leader, party, or idea.

   Grammar: Countable here, usually singular: 'a loyal followership', 'the party's followership'.

   Patterns

   • a loyal followership
   • a large followership
   • the party's followership

   The new coach quickly built a loyal followership among younger players.

   Her blog has a small but devoted followership.

   The party's followership has grown in rural areas.

Common combinations

effective followership

Effective followership keeps a team honest and well informed.

followership skills

Managers often forget that followership skills can be trained.

a loyal followership

The singer has a loyal followership that buys every album.

the study of followership

The study of followership grew out of leadership research.

encourage followership

Good bosses encourage followership rather than blind obedience.

Synonyms and how they differ

obedience

Obedience means simply doing what you are told; followership also includes judgment and active support, so it is broader.

support

Support is the general idea of backing someone; followership is the formal term for the role and behavior of a follower.

following

A following is a group of fans or supporters; followership can mean that group but more often refers to the behavior or skill itself.

Opposites

Word family

follower noun

a person who supports or obeys a leader or idea.

follow verb

to go after someone, or to accept and act on their lead.

following noun

the group of people who support a person or cause.

Commonly confused: followership or following? followership or leadership?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “followership”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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