Followership: The Missing Link

For decades, researchers and philosophers alike have been writing about the importance of leadership. However, literature has largely ignored contributions made by followers. In todays changing work environment, an increasing number of followers are being empowered and asked to take on more responsibility. The current study investigated the relationship between Kelleys (1992) followership dimensions (i.e., active engagement and independent thinking) and affective commitment and performance (in-role and extra role). In addition, Kelleys (1992) scale of followership was statistically refined. The results revealed significant positive correlations between a single dimension of followership and the outcome variables. Consequently, no relationships were found between independent thinking and the outcome variables. Post hoc analyses revealed a mean difference between gender and affective commitment as well as in-role performance and age. Finally, confirmatory factor analyses of the followership scale revealed that a 12-item 2-factor solution was factorially and statistically sound.