Leadership: Leaders, Followers, Environments

Susceptible followers: colluders and conformers

All leaders have one thing in common: they have followers. Leaders alone cannot get much done. It is easy to understand why followers would want to collaborate with positive and constructive leaders, but why do some go along with toxic ones? Why do many followers not confront destructive leaders? Why don't people speak out when they know something is wrong? Indeed, why do some followers actually help the toxic leader achieve his or her destructive aims and objectives? Followers clearly have an impact on the ultimate outcomes, and this section discusses why followers are susceptible to toxic leaders.

Two reminders are useful in discussing followers or constituents. First, followers in different sorts of situations have common motivations and characteristics, just as leaders do. There are overarching human or evolutionary tendencies in all of us that make leadership and followership possible. Think about the way many people imitate clothing styles and slang of celebrities. There is a natural inclination to obey authority figures, to imitate higherstatus individuals, and conform to group norms.⁶⁰ In addition, all followers need safety, security, group membership, and predictability in an uncertain world at the individual level.⁶¹ There are also group or community needs for social order, cohesion, identity, and the coordination of collective activities. Second, a caveat about oversimplification is helpful. To suggest that followers fall ...