Effective Follower Characteristics

Before taking the position of a great leader everyone must first learn to follow. An effective follower and a successful leader have multiple characteristics in common. Five characteristics that make a great follower and in time, an efficient leader are this motivation, accountability, the ability to recognize and seize an opportunity, coachability, and ambition. Motivation is a key component to become an effective follower and getting a job done. Self-motivated employees complete tasks quicker and more efficiently. Leaders will look for the person who goes out of their way to get the job done. This type of motivation frees up the manager to take care of other tasks. Self-motivation of one team member may also help motivate others on the team, making it an invaluable characteristic. Accountability is a necessary characteristic in being a positive follower because the employer must trust that the employee will go through with what he or she says. When the employee feels responsible for task completion and the quality of the resulting product, they are more apt to do a better job at completing the task. Accountability also helps build trust between the employees
When a follower is able to identify opportunities and take advantage of them, the team is more likely to turn out a better quality product. This type of ability can lead to the creation of new products, identifying a previously untapped customer base, and the reinvention of a product that is a poor performer. Cris Maser (2010) stated, "Opportunity rarely looks like an opportunity. Often opportunity arrives incognito, disguised as misfortune, defeat, and rejection" (p.1). This ability benefits the individual, any team they may be a part of, and the company who hired them. These individuals are likely to be identified by management as having the necessary qualities for higher level jobs in the