Followership in Organisational Leadership Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Although followership is just as important as leadership, it is often overlooked in leadership research due to the stereotypical belief that only leaders are responsible for organisational success and failures. However, without followers, leaders would not exist, and thus, studying followership is essential to improve our understanding of organisational leadership. This systematic literature review paper aims to contribute to the body of literature on leadership research by examining the conceptualisation of followership from both leader-centric and follower-centric perspectives. Employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) method as a framework, this paper conceptualises followership and examines various aspects of follower conceptualisation, including definitions, styles, and attributes. It further investigates follower-centric predictors of leadership effectiveness. The paper also examines the theoretical perspectives utilised in understanding followership.