Followership and Preferred Leadership Behaviors: Conversion of Passive and Alienated Followers Into Exemplary Followers

December 3, 2025

Followership and Preferred Leadership Behaviors: Conversion of Passive and Alienated Followers Into Exemplary Followers

Ayodele Adepoju | 2023

Abstract

The review of existing literature established a need to explore the leadership behaviors that help transition passive and alienated followers, including quiet quitters, into much more actively engaged followers in the organization. It reviewed the relationship between Kelley Followers Styles (KFS) and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). I utilized descriptive and correlation analysis, using the results of a self-administered survey of 135 individuals using a nonprobability convenience sampling. I derived the questionnaire using the instruments of Kelley’s Power of Followership Survey and Kouzes and Posner’s LPI. The hypothesis testing assessed the strength of the relationship, whether significant, in the 10 hypotheses developed from the five metacategories of LPI and two KFS dimensions. The findings established a positive correlation between the two KFS dimensions and LPI’s five practices. Second, the testing results showed that nine out of 10 hypotheses were fully supported as the correlation coefficients (r ranging between .701 and .784) showed a high correlation or marked relationship, and the results were statistically significant. Third, the top two LPI variables that correlate the most with KFS’s active engagement are Model the Way (r = .784) and Encourage the Heart (r = .776). Lastly, the top two LPI variables that correlate most with KFS’s independent critical thinking are Inspire a Shared Vision (r = .735) and Challenge the Process (r = .730). The results of this study contributed to the field of knowledge as it extended previous research on followership and leadership relationships. In addition, this is the first study to evaluate the type of leadership behaviors required to convert passive and alienated followers into a much more integral part of the team. It is also the first that examined the correlation between KFS and LPI. Future research can explore cultural effects, adopt qualitative or mixed research methods, explore the presence of mediating or moderating variables, or use other followership or leadership instruments.

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