Depersonalizing Leadership and Followership: The Process of Leadship and Followship

Abstract

This article addresses the traditional view of leader (ship) and follower (ship) as separate persons and processes in leadership research. Attempts have been made to depersonalize leadership and followership by taking leaders out of leadership and followers out of followership, which is to say that leaders and followers are myth and do not exist as separate identities. The traditional views of leaders and followers as static persons and functions as well as leadership and followership as separate processes have been challenged by the depersonalized or person-less concepts of leadship and followship. A shift of focus in research seems necessary from the leader or follower to the dynamic inter-relational functions of leading or following as well as from leader- or follower-centric leadership or followership to role-focused and interchangeable process of leadship and followship in organizations.