Implicit Follower Theory: What Do You Think of Those Whom You Lead?

Our images of others often guide the way that we treat them.

In the same way that people hold implicit ideas about leaders and leader characteristics (e.g., inspirational, assertive, strategic), they also hold implicit ideas about what followers are like. In his Implicit Follower Theory (IFT), Tom Sy,28 defines these as “personal assumptions about the traits and behaviors that characterize followers.” These IFTs can influence how leaders think about and behave toward their followers, and can affect followers’ self-images.

This is not a new idea. More than sixty years ago, Douglas McGregor distinguished between Theory X and Theory Y.

Theory X leaders believe that followers need to be directed and motivated and that they rarely will take initiative. This led to a very traditional, top-down approach in leaders who had this Theory X perspective. Theory Y leaders, on the other hand, believe that followers are self-motivated and need to be nurtured and challenged and they will be committed to team and organizational goals.

Sy’s research found similar results and came up with a “good” followership prototype (followers are industrious, enthusiastic, and good citizens) and a “not so good” followership anti-prototype (they are conforming, insubordinate, and incompetent).

Why does this matter? The ways that leaders think about followers — the implicit theories that they hold about them — can influence their attitudes, behaviors, and plans. Moreover, if a leader holds positive or negative prototype beliefs about followers, this can, through the Pygmalion effect, actually affect how followers will perform, positively or negatively, and how they think about themselves. Imagine the lockdown situation that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of thousands working from home. Clearly, a leader’s IFT would have impact on remote workers.

For Development: Do some deep reflection and consider what you think of the typical followers that you have supervised. Is your IFT generally positive (e.g., they are industrious and responsible) or is it more negative (e.g., they need direction, monitoring, and prodding to get the job done). How has your image of typical followers affected how you lead? What needs to be done in order to develop a more positive image of the typical follower? You may need to rethink who you are hiring/choosing for your team and why.