The followers are the people towards which leadership is directed. The characteristics of the followers highly determine how the behavior of the leader will be interpreted by the followers. Some of the characteristics are such as:
• * Expectations
The expectations that the followers have of their leaders will highly determine their attitudes towards the leaders. If they expect the leader to lead them to success, they are more co-operative and will be more willing to listen to the leaders as they find them easier to trust. Other types of expectations for example the expected level of expertise of the leader, expected communications skills of the leader, financial affluence as well as expected leadership style to be used will affect the follower attitude towards the leader.
• * Personality traits
Some followers have personality traits that lead them to have desires for control which in turn leads to different leadership styles required when leading such groups of people. For instance, according to Path-Goal theory, those followers who have an internal locus of control require participative leadership as they believe they are in charge of the events that occur in their life. Those followers who have an external locus of control require directive leadership as they believe that chance, fate or external forces determine life events.
• * Maturity levels
This refers to both the job maturity as well as the psychological maturity according to the Situational Leadership theory by Hersey and Blanchard (1969). Job maturity is how well the followers demonstrate their abilities, skills and knowledge in relation to the tasks. Psychological maturity entails the level of confidence, willingness and motivation.
• * Levels of competence
How competent the followers are will determine their level of confidence on the tasks assigned to them as well as their motivation levels on the job.
• * Motivation
How the followers are motivated highly affects their performance. If the followers are rewarded or punished for their accomplishments or mistakes respectively, the level of motivation rises or reduces accordingly. The leaders have to recognize the best ways of motivating their followers to enhance their performance.

Listen to the video above and study the readings given on this page. Focussing on a named institution, what could leaders do to increase and sustain followers?

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