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Theories of collaboration exist at the interfirm and intergroup level, but not the intragroup or team level. Team interactions are often framed in terms of leadership and followership, a categorization which may, or may not, accurately reflect the dynamics of intragroup interactions. To create a grounded theory of collaboration, the Farmer’s Exercise was given to groups of students, their interactions were recorded and post-exercise interviews of participants and observers were done. From a detailed analysis of the recordings and interviews a grounded theory of collaboration was developed. Two broad categories of collaborative behavior formed the frame of the theory that we call Collaborative Theory (CT). The first category, Individual First, is composed of three causal themes: turn-taking, observing or doing, and status seeking. The second category, Team First, also has three causal themes: influencing others, organizing work, and building group cohesion. This second theme can be identified with managerial and leadership action but we argue that it need not. Although this is a preliminary study subject to further validation and testing, CT already identifies collaborative behaviors that shed new light on intragroup interactions.

In the first two papers, the authors provided an overview of the research on followship and then presented a new model that extends understanding of it. This paper illustrates how the followship model can be used effectively to enhance organizations through coaching, mentoring, organizational change (enterprise‐wide reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions), high performer development, executive retention, new hire on‐boarding, leader development, and also in designing HR tools for performance management.

This is a capstone article. As such, it summarizes key points made previously, discusses existing HR practices and how they can be improved, incorporates case studies on followship, and illustrates practical applications.

Leaders must learn to model followship, and use it to solve staff performance issues. HR departments should include followship training to enrich development planning and, in the case of enterprise‐wide change such as mergers and acquisitions, speed and improve the results. Finally, providing followship training helps prevent executive derailment, improves Gen Y integration, and enhances the opportunities for high performers' career development.

This third and final article shows practical applications of ideas followship brings to organizational development. As such, it will be interesting to senior executives, high performance talent managers, executive coaches, and HR departments.

The purpose of this paper is to progress beyond Part 1, in which the research on followership was surveyed, showing it has significant practical importance in enhancing career and organizational value. Part 2 aims to present a comprehensive framework to understand followership and clarify how and where followership is different (and the same) as leadership. It seeks to show how previous research fits into this new framework, as well as highlighting gaps and opportunities. Part 3 aims to present examples of how this model can used as a training tool, in mentoring, for performance appraisals, and for designing HR solutions.

The paper presents a new framework for followership, articulates its features, and puts it into the context of previous ideas about followership.

There are real and important differences between leadership and followership. Some attributes and characteristics are unique to good followers while others, such as intelligence are generally applicable to all employees. Finally, followership can be understood as two separate competencies: leader support and personal manageability, which refer to situation‐specific and generic followership behaviours respectively.

The three articles are of particular interest to senior executives and HR departments.

This paper presents a new way of understanding followership, and of putting it into perspective with leadership. As such, the three articles are of particular interest to senior executives and HR departments.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a compelling argument that followership has significant practical value in enhancing career and organizational value; and, second, to encourage dialogue about followership. Part 2 will extend current ideas about followership to provide a more comprehensive, holistic model. Part 3 will show how the model can be used as a training tool, in mentoring, for performance appraisals, and in designing HR solutions.

The strengths and weaknesses of current theories are highlighted, motivating both the need for making followership more visible within an organization and the need for a more comprehensive model.

Good followers report higher career satisfaction, get promoted more often, and add greater value to their organizations. Moreover, followship skills can be developed.

Previous research has focused on followship as either a fixed set of behaviours or traits, or as something a leader has to learn to manage. This is the first paper to empower followers – everyone in an organization is a follower and followership skills can be learned. As such, the three articles are of particular interest to senior executives and HR departments.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of the role of followership by raising self-awareness of those in organisational hierarchies through the followership intelligence activity. As practitioners, we intentionally spotlight the importance of followership learning and link followership development to the future needs of a thriving organisation through the facilitation of our activity.

This paper outlines the proposed followership intelligence activity (FIA), which includes a progression of questions, group discussions and linkages to adult learning principles, experiential learning and followership theory.

Feedback from authors’ workshops and general observations indicate that once “learning” leaders understand the importance of followership and identify as both followers and leaders, they begin to build and promote work environments open to conversations about the behaviours and skills of exemplary followers.

People cannot change behaviour that they do not notice. However, when leaders begin to identify as both leaders and followers, their openness to learning, developing (self and others) and having followership conversations increases, which promotes both personal awareness and growth. As leaders model and create conversations about exemplary followership skills, they can promote and inspire these behaviours in others within the organisation.

The intention of embedding the FIA into our leadership development programme is to legitimise, honour and promote life-long learning of both leadership and followership. Both roles are vital for a thriving workplace, and they need to be performed with strength, accountability and pride.