Separating Leadership from Leaders: An Assessment of the Effect of Leader and Follower Roles in Organizations

TLDR: In this article, a case study is presented describing one organization's comprehensive set of internal structures that allow them to successfully fulfill leadership functions without creating leader roles, and some preliminary suggestions regarding necessary conditions for the success of leaderless organizational structures are made.

Abstract: Findings reported in the research literature concerned with labeling, status and communication in groups, power, expertise, responsibility, and resistance support the position that leader-follower distinctions in organizations are likely to undermine the very goals they are established to achieve. Rather than being inspired by leaders to do their best, it is likely that followers will either limit themselves to status-appropriate behaviors or resist their low power roles. A case study is presented describing one organization's comprehensive set of internal structures that allows them to successfully fulfill leadership functions without creating leader roles. By drawing comparisons between this organization and another enterprise that has a flat structure, some preliminary suggestions regarding necessary conditions for the success of leaderless organizational structures are made. The implications for behavioral scientists are discussed.