Follower-centered leadership: An investigation of leader behavior, leader power, follower competency, and follower job performance in leader-follower relationships

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between follower performance and the leader behaviors of consideration and initiating structure within the framework provided by Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory. The study results suggested that the leader behaviors of high consideration and high initiating structure best predict follower performance. In addition, study findings supported the SLT principle that follower readiness does influence the leader:follower relationship and the resulting follower performance.;The subjects were 207 leaders and followers of a 250 bed hospital located in a small Midwestern town. Quantitative methods were used to evaluate the variables important to the study. Followers described their leader's behavior using the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire; their own job performance using the Job Performance Instrument; their own job readiness with the Sense of Competency Scale; and their leader's power base using the Power Perception Profile. Leaders described their followers using the Job Performance Instrument and the Sense of Competency Scale. Eight research questions were identified and tested through the use of t-tests, sign tests, correlations, regression, and Chi-squares.;Job performance more highly correlated with leader consideration than with leader initiating structure. This finding may indicate a need to rephrase Situational Leadership with more leader consideration behavior with low competency followers.;A major and notable finding in this study was that a relatively low percentage of leader:follower matches with high performing followers were found in the low consideration-high structure (S1) leader quadrant. This finding suggests that follower maturity was a principal determinant of follower performance. To achieve high follower performance very high leader initiating structure must support followers who exhibit low competency or maturity.