¶ … Leadership: There are several documentations regarding leadership that have focused mainly on attributes that are usually explained in the context of combination of vision, confidence, initiative, and intelligence. Actually, some of the newest, most advanced researches combine current analysis with evolutionary examination regarding the topic. These findings have demonstrated that leadership incorporates a simple premise that an adaptive concept survives over time whereas what is maladaptive does not (Cruz, n.d.). One of the most recent hypotheses suggests that the leadership-followership paradigm is a group-level adaptation. This is primarily because the roles of leaders and followers may be embraced flexible by the same person since it beneficial to be a leader in some cases and a follower in others. However, there is need to understand the leadership-followership paradigm through identifying the definition of followership as it relates to leadership. This process also requires an understanding of perceived benefits or payoffs of followership.

Followership:

Followership is considered as an important element of leadership since virtually no individual leads all of the time. In some instances, leaders function as followers as evident in the fact that people spend part of their day following and another part leading. The importance of followership in relations to leadership is demonstrated by the impact of followership on effective leadership. For instance, when followers actively contribute, the purpose of leadership in achieving higher levels of mission accomplishment is realized (Townsend & Gebhardt, n.d.). In this case, followers actively contribute...

In addition, followership can be described as the achievement of a specific goal through exercising respect to authority, integrity, self-discipline, and positive attitude. The development of followership is a process that requires the self-discipline and skills that are more essential to the success of an organization than the development of leaders. While it's not an easy task, the process of developing leaders involves the willingness to learn from other people on the part of the follower ("Introduction to Followership," n.d.). Therefore, the lack of effective followership can contribute to the inability of a leader to accomplish organizational goals.
Generally, leaders and followers are joined in relationships of mutual dependence since every leader exercises some degree of control over his/her followers. Leaders cannot accomplish any task without encouraging and inducing their followers to implement their decisions. In contrast, the attitudes and behaviors of followers have a significant effect on the performance of their leaders. This is mainly the reason why followership needs wisdom, initiative, skill, and patience since suitable action by followers enhances the ability of the leader to encourage followers to implement their decisions (Greenwald, 2007).

Payoffs or Benefits of Followership:

As previously mentioned, followership is an essential element of leadership to an extent that…