MLD-353: FOLLOWERSHIP. Spring 2012. Faculty: Professor Barbara Kellerman.
Office Location: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman #158.
1 HARVARD UNIVERSITY
John F. Kennedy School of Government
MLD-353: FOLLOWERSHIP
Spring 2012
Faculty: Professor Barbara Kellerman
Office Location: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman #158 Phone: 617-495-7570 E-mail:
[email protected] Office Hours: By appointment; please contact Professor Kellerman directly.
Faculty Assistant: Mike Leveriza Office Location: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman #141G Phone: 617-495-1386 E-mail:
[email protected]
Schedule of Classes: Tuesdays and Thursdays; 11:40 to 1:00 PM Classroom: RG-20 Class Dates: Tuesday, January 24 through Thursday, April 26
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2 Course Description Young Alexander conquered India He alone? Caesar best the Gauls Was there not even a cook in his army? Philip of Spain wept as his fleet Was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears? Excerpt from “A Worker Reads History” Bertolt Brecht
The widespread assumption is that leaders are of major importance and followers of nearly no importance. This course is intended as a corrective. It presumes that followers have always mattered more to the course of human history than is generally thought – and that for various reasons they matter more in the 21st century than they ever did before. Their increased power and influence is, moreover, a global phenomenon, key to understanding patterns of dominance and deference the world over. The course is both theoretical and practical in its content and application. That is, it provides an intellectual understanding of the follower phenomenon – its origins and functions, its evolution over time, its distinctions and directions, its impact on historical causation, and of course, its relation to the leader phenomenon. Similarly there is a practical component – what does it mean to be a good leader so far as followers are concerned; what does it mean to be a good follower; what is the importance of the follower in small groups, large organizations, and collectives such as the nation state; what is the impact on the whole of different types of followers, from Isolates to Diehards; and, of course, the overarching question – what does it do to our understanding of the way the world works to view power, authority, and influence through the lens of the follower, as opposed to that of the leader?
Course Format I like a lively classroom. Therefore, most classes will be a mix – content delivered by me in an informal lecture, and discussion enhanced by group participation. Occasionally we will deviate from this
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3 general pattern through various pedagogical devices, including small group discussions, one minute papers, presentations by students, and films intended to elucidate pertinent points.
Course Policies and Procedures
Without special dispensation from the instructor, the use of any sort of personal computer during class is prohibited.
In the event you are absent more than twice during the term, please explain your situation to me.
Your active participation in class discussion is expected.
Several films will be shown during the term. If you are unable to view them at the designated time, you are expected to have seen them nevertheless, by the designated class session.
All announcements and course information will be made available in class, and also on the course web site.
Course Requirements Three papers are required, totaling some 18 to 25 pages (typed, double spaced). The first and second papers should each be 5 to 7 pages long, and should consist of a critical analysis of one or more of the readings, discussions, films. These two papers are due on February 23 and March 20 respectively. The final paper should be 8 to 10 pages long, and should consist of a case study of followership, based on your own experience. More will be said about this last paper in class; and guidelines for writing the other two papers will also be provided. The case study is due on the last day of class, April 26th. As already indicated, active participation in class is further expected – including at least one presentation to the group entire.
Course Grading Students will be evaluated on the basis of: 1) the vigor and competence of their oral, in class, participation 2) the ambition and competence of their writing, as evidenced by the three papers Continued…
4 Grades will be determined in rough accord with the following percentages:
Participation: 40 %
Papers: 60%
Course Readings You are not required to acquire the following books. But they are available for purchase at the book store.
Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders (Berrett-Koehler, 2009).
Barbara Kellerman, Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders (Harvard Business Press, 2008).
Barbara Kellerman, Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Influence, and Authority (McGraw-Hill, 2010).
Barbara Kellerman, The End of Leadership (HarperCollins, 2012 – available in March).
The three course packets can be purchased at the HKS Course Materials Office. All readings are also on reserve at the Harvard Kennedy School Library.
SYLLABUS
Tuesday, January 24 : Why – Or, Better, Why Not – Followership?
Barbara Kellerman, Followership: How Followers Create Change and Change Leaders (Harvard Business School Press, 2008), xv.-xxi; 3-47.
Robert Kelley, The Power of Followership: How to Create Leaders People Want (Doubleday, 1993), 11-32. Continued …
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Robert Kelley, “Rethinking Followership” in Ronald Riggio, Ira Chaleff, Jean-Lipman-Bluman, The Art of Followership: How Great followers Create Great Leaders and Great Organizations (JosseyBass, 2008), 5-15.
Ira Chaleff: The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders, (Berrett Koehler, 3rd edition) 1-33.
Thursday, January 26: Followership: A Brief History
Frans de Waal, Our Inner Ape (Penguin, 2005), 41-55; 73-84.
Sigmund Freud, “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego” and “Civilization and Its Discontents” and “Moses and Monotheism: in Barbara Kellerman, Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (McGraw-Hill, 2010), 80-90.
Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, 42-48.
John Locke, “Second Treatise of Government” in Essential Selections, 48-56.
John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” in Essential Selections, 66-73.
Tuesday, January 31: Followership in the Last Half Century – Changing Culture and Technology
John Lewis, Walking in the Wind,(Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998), 29-70.
Larry Kramer, “1,112 and Counting” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, 192-203.
Barbara Kellerman, Chapter 3, “Technological Imperatives – losing control” in The End of Leadership (HarperCollins, 2012). The chapter will be made available pre-publication.
James Surowiecki, The Wisdom of Crowds (Archer, 2055), 192-223.
Thursday February 2: Types of Followers – Isolates, Bystanders, and Participants
Challef, 35-56
Kellerman, Followership, 97-149. Continued . . .
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Lorna Blumen, “Bystanders to Children’s Bullying” in Riggio et al, 219-236.
Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (Random House, 2007), 313-319.
The Bystander Effect – Two Cases: Catholic Church and Penn State, passim.
Tuesday, February 7, Types of Followers – Activists and Diehards
Kellerman, Followership, 151-209.
Nelson Mandela, “I am Prepared to Die” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, 264-275.
Thursday, February, 9: Spectrum of Relations Between Leaders and Followers
Totalitarian (Political) Leadership – Ian Kershaw, The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany (Penguin, 2011), pp. 3-15; 386-400.
Autocratic (Corporate) Leadership – Barbara Kellerman, Bad Leadership: What It Is, Why It Happens, How It Matters (Harvard Business School Press, 2004), 119-146.
Democratic Leadership – John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, 66-73.
Laissez Faire Leadership – Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (Penguin, 2006), 3-7; 31-55; 199-208.
Tuesday, February 14: Followers in Context – In Small Groups, Large Organizations, and at the Level of the Nation State
Irving Janis, Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascos (Houghton Mifflin, 1982), 174-197; 260-276.
Robert Michels, Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracies (Transaction, 1999), 85-92; 107-114; 342-356.--
The Occupy Movement, passim.
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7 Thursday, February 16: Followers as Targets of Influence
Robert Cialdini, Influence: Science and Practice (Pearson, 2009), 1-17; 141-173.
Howard Gardner, Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds (Harvard Business School Press, 2004) 14-19; 69-89.,
Robert Gellately, Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany (Oxford, 2001), 1-33.
Tuesday, February 21: Followers in Context – The Case of Nazi Germany
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust (Vintage 1996), 375-415.
Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland (HarperPerennial edition, 159-189.
Wednesday, February 22: Film – Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Time: 6 - 8 pm
Place: Wiener Auditorium
Pizza and drinks available
Thursday, February 23: Craving Authority
Sigmund Freud, “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, 80-83; 88-90.
Jean Lipman-Blumen, The Allure of the Toxic Leader: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians – and How We Can Survive Them (Oxford University Press, 2005), 29-86.
Kellerman, Followership, 49-67.
Note: First Paper Due.
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Tuesday, February 28: Obedience to Authority
Stanley Milgram, “Obedience to Authority” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, pp. 104-110.
Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann in Jerusalem” in Kellerman, Essential Selections, pp. 110-116.
Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Diamond, Crimes of Obedience: Toward a Social Psychology of Authority and Responsibility (Yale University Press, 1989), 103-135.
Zimbardo, 3-22; 258-266; 277-296.
Thursday, March 1: Resisting Authority
Browning, 55-70.
James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (Yale University Press, 1990), 17-44; 202-212.
Zimbardo, 444-488.
Tuesday, March 6: Dissent – Revolution and Rebellion
John Jost et al, “Why Men (and Women) Do and Don’t Rebel: Effects of System Justification on Willingness to Protest, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2011, XX(X), 1-12.
The Fall of the Wall - passim (select an Eastern European country circa 1989 with which to familiarize yourself).
The Arab Spring – passim (select a Middle Eastern country circa 2011 with which to familiarize yourself).
Thursday, March 8: Challenging Authority in the World of Work
Chaleff, 85-112; 147-204.
Debra Myerson, Tempered Radicals: How People Use Difference to inspire Change at Work (Harvard Business Press, 2001), 5-33.
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9 Spring Break: Saturday, March 10 – Sunday, March 18
Tuesday, March 20: Dissent – Whistleblowers
C. Fred Alford, “Whistleblowing as Responsible Followership” in Riggio et al, pp. 237-251.
Tom Devine, The Whistleblower’s Survival Guide, (Fund for Constitutional Government, 1997), 14-48.
Note: Second Paper Due
Thursday, March 22: Leading Up/Managing Up
Film: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (61 minutes) – will be shown in class
Michael Useem, Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss so you Both Win (Three Rivers, 2001) 1-6; 248-278, 281.
Tuesday, March 27: Reading History Differently – The Decision to Invade Iraq
Thomas Ricks, Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (Penguin, 2006), 3-111. Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq (Vintage 2007), 158-187.
Wednesday, March 28: Film – Bill Moyers Journal: Buying the War
Time: 6: 30 to 8:00 pm
Place: TBD
Pizza and Drinks available
Thursday, March 29: Reading History Differently – The Decision to Disband the Iraqi Army
Andrew Block, Case Study, Unpublished paper. Continued . . .
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Tuesday, April 3: Leading Down/Managing Down
Bill George, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2007), 169-184; 234235. Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought For Its Life Without Losing Its Soul (Rodale, 2011). ix-xii, 8-23, 100-112, 166-176, 296-305, 314-321
Thursday, April 5: Leadership and Followership in the 21st Century
Barbara Kellerman, The End of Leadership (HarperCollins, 2012), chapters 2-6.
Tuesday, April 10: Bad Followership
Film: Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (86 minutes) – will be shown in class
Lipman-Blumen, 125-160.
Kellerman, Bad Leadership, 95-117
Thursday, April 12: Good Followership
Kellerman, Followership, 213-261.
Chaleff, 35-85; 117-153
Bruce Avolio and Rebecca Reichard “The Rise of Authentic Followership” in Riggio et al, 325-337.
Tuesday, April 17: Cases in Point
Thursday, April 19: Cases in Point
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Tuesday, April 24: Your Inner Follower – A Self Assessment
Chaleff, 38-39
Thursday, April 26: Poetry and Prose - and George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”
Note: Third paper due.
