Leaders in organizations commonly supervise a number of subordinates who may also be referred to as their followers. Using the CSU Online Library, explore topics associated with leadership behavior, followership behavior, and how followers are affected by leadership. Then, select a company that is of interest to you, and respond to the following questions/topics.
- Briefly describe your chosen company. Identify potential problems or issues (current or future) that your company might address if followers do not respectfully adhere to the demands of their leaders.
- Explain how followers can influence the behavior of leaders.
- Analyze how different types of leadership styles can affect the motivations, behaviors, and performances of followers.
- What might this company do in the future to improve leadership training methods and performance measures for all workers? Include your rationale.
Your APA-formatted response must be a minimum of two pages in length (not including the title page and the references page) and must include an introduction, a thesis statement (concise summary of the main point of the paper), and a clear discussion of the topics above. Your response must include a minimum of two credible references. All sources used must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.
Expert Answer and Explanation
Chosen Company and Potential Problems or Issues
Chic-fil-A is one of the fast-food and eatery facilities which has been and continues to operate in the hotel industry (Chick-fil-A, 2019). There are numerous potential issues or problems that Chic-fil-A needs to address if the followers do not respectfully adhere to the demands of the leaders. The role of leaders in Chic-fil-A is to ensure the proper operations of the restaurant and that the followers adhere to the provided directions.
Leadership demands include the need to follow protocol, follow the available employee-client relationship, and ensure proper coordination of services. The employees are the followers in this case and depict the nature in which they can impact the company and its daily operations. If the followers do not follow the demand of the leaders, the first issue that Chic-fil-A will be faced with is a negative brand image.
The disarray between the leaders and the followers creates a disconnect and improper coordination of services at all stages of governance or administration. The other issues that the company would be dealing with include high employee turnover, reduced growth, and possible closure of the branches.
How Followers Can Influence the Hehavior of Leaders
There is a need for proper respect and coordination between leaders and followers for the prosperity of any company or organization (Eliot, 2020). In this regard, followers can also shape the behavior of the leader in different ways. For instance, followers are essential stakeholders in any organization and interact with the company system and clients more often (Eliot, 2020). The followers have a local-level knowledge of the gaps in the procedures and processes which can help advise the leaders on the best approach to use and leadership strategy to employ.
Followers can be involved in the decision-making process to help trigger the appropriate response and behavior from the leaders (Eliot, 2020). On the contrary, when followers are disrespectful and not following the present rules, the leaders might act in a specific way. In this regard, the negative traits of the followers will have influenced the behavior of the leaders as a response mechanism.
How Different Types of Leadership Styles Can Affect the Motivations, Behaviors, and Performances of Followers
Different types of leadership have varied impacts on the motivation, behaviors, and performance of the followers. For instance, authoritative leadership styles can create fear and make the relationship between the leaders and the followers challenging (Eva et al., 2019). Chic-fil-A leadership style is based on servant leadership which is essential in the delivery of proper motivation and the behavior of collaboration. Servant leadership entails showing the employees how they are supposed to act, behave or work among one another. The style has been beneficial to Chic-fil-A as it has improved the overall performance for the facility to become one of the leading fast-food companies in the US.
Strategies to Improve Leadership Training
Leadership training methods and performance measures for all workers can be improved in multiple ways. For instance, Chic-fil-A can focus on providing occasional seminars to help the leaders understand what can best be used to help the workers meet their goals (Jacobsen et al., 2019). Performance measures can also be facilitated through the implementation of an automated ERP system to whelp with internal processes and employee management. There is also a need for better employee and leadership meetings to improve on involvement in decision-making strategies. These strategies can help improve the effectiveness of the interaction and improve the overall performance and reduce conflict between a leader and a follower.
References
Chick-fil-A. (2019, February 13). Chick-fil-A Increases Investment in Team Members by Awarding $15.3 Million in Scholarships. Retrieved from https://thechickenwire.chick-fil-a.com/news/chick-fil-a-increases-investment-in-team-members-by-awarding-15-3-million-in-scholarships
Eliot, J. L. (2020). Resilient leadership: the impact of a servant leader on the resilience of their followers. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 22(4), 404-418