Look at your team. Do you see partners, yes-men, or brilliant cynics? Before you answer, understand this: the followership styles on your team are a direct reflection of your leadership.
It's a hard truth, and there's no better (or funnier) illustration of it than this classic scene from HBO's Silicon Valley. (Yes, it's an amazing show, and we have an amazing creative team!!)
This clip is a two-minute masterclass of what's too close to reality. After a hype-filled all-hands, the employees play a game of "hot potato" with bad news. A six-week delay becomes 15 weeks, then snowballs into something so catastrophic no one even dares to quantify it.
Silicon Valley resonates so deeply because, beneath the satire, it's a documentary of our industry's absurdities. It nails the culture of fear that allows small problems to fester into full-blown crises. This isn't a problem with the employees; it's a symptom of a leadership environment where bad news isn't welcome. And it's why understanding followership is so critical. While we spend millions training leaders, we leave the other side of the equation—the one that determines whether bad news travels up or festers in the dark—completely to chance.
I’m talking about followership.
It’s a word that makes us uncomfortable, but this misunderstanding is a costly strategic failure. The most effective leaders I know are also the most effective followers. They have mastered situational followership. You lead your team, but you follow your CEO, the market's signals, and the data's unforgiving truths.
How you follow is just as important as how you lead.
The best Leadership MRI I've found is Robert Kelley’s model. It’s a diagnostic tool that cuts through the chaos by mapping people on two simple axes: how much independent, critical thinking they apply, and how actively engaged they are. Through this lens, the Pied Piper team isn't just a collection of quirks; they become a crystal-clear map of the five followership archetypes.
Five Followership Archetypes
1. The Conformist Follower
The Vibe: The loyal trooper ("Jared Dunn"). Jared is the platonic ideal of this archetype. He is relentlessly positive and actively engaged, always working to support Richard's vision, no matter how chaotic. His thinking, however, is entirely dependent on Richard's. He doesn't question the mission; he just asks, "How can I help?"
The Leader's Mirror: Having a Jared feels great—it's a sugar high for the leader's ego. But a team of them creates a dangerous echo chamber where your worst ideas are met with a standing ovation.
2. The Passive Follower
The Vibe: The spectator ("Big Head"). Big Head is a master of passive engagement. He's not malicious; he just wants to coast. He requires explicit instructions and avoids responsibility at all costs. In the clip, the employees passing the buck are all channeling their inner Big Head.
The Leader's Mirror: A team full of spectators often reflects a culture of micromanagement or one where taking initiative has been punished in the past. True passivity is often just unheard initiative.
3. The Alienated Follower
The Vibe: The brilliant cynic ("Gilfoyle"). Gilfoyle is a world-class engineer with immense critical thinking skills. He sees every flaw in Richard's plans instantly. But he's passively engaged, preferring to watch things burn with a smirk rather than proactively offering a solution. His iconic line, "I'm not going to help you, but I'm not going to not help you," is the alienated follower's anthem.
The Leader's Mirror: This is a high-performance engine running in neutral. Their cynicism almost always has an origin story—their ideas were ignored, their trust was broken, or they felt undervalued.
4. The Pragmatic Follower
The Vibe: The political survivor ("Dinesh Chugtai"). Dinesh sits in the middle of the storm, constantly checking which way the wind is blowing. He's moderately engaged and a capable engineer, but his primary motivation is self-preservation and status. He'll side with Gilfoyle one minute and Richard the next, depending on who seems to have the upper hand. He's the embodiment of "What's in it for me?"
The Leader's Mirror: A team with many pragmatists can be a warning sign of an unstable or highly political environment. It suggests that people feel the need to play it safe and protect themselves rather than commit fully to the mission.
5. The Exemplary Follower
The Vibe: The co-pilot ("Richard Hendricks," at his best). This is the person who, despite their own anxieties, finds the courage to challenge a flawed plan because they are so passionately committed to the mission. Think of Richard, who often had to follow the direction of his board or investors. At his best, he wouldn't just follow; he'd come back with a better, data-driven argument, respectfully challenging power for the good of the company. This is the person who stops the 'hot potato' game by speaking up.
The Leader's Mirror: These followers thrive in high-trust environments where leaders empower ownership and value constructive dissent. They are the ultimate sign of a healthy culture.
Now - having watched the show 10x, you might want to challenge me - you're pigeon-hole these characters into your buckets!
Of course I am! But that's exactly the point!
The characters in the show changed over time, and we do too! People are complex. We're rarely just one thing. You might be an 'Exemplary Follower' on a project you love, and drift toward 'Passive' on a task you find meaningless. The key is to recognize the patterns and understand the triggers.
The Real "Aha" Moment
After seeing these patterns for years, here's the insight that changed everything for me: These followership styles are not fixed personality traits. They are a reflection in the mirror.
A team of 'Passive Followers' isn't a problem with your hiring; it's a problem with your leadership. Your job isn't to categorize your team; it's to be the catalyst that transforms them.
Okay, so you've run the diagnostic. You see the patterns. Now what? The real work of leadership is not just to see the board, but to make the right moves. Here's the playbook I use:
Scenario 1: Moving a "Conformist Follower" to an "Exemplary Follower"
You have a loyal, high-performing engineer who agrees with every architectural decision you propose, even when you secretly have your own doubts.
Your Action: Stop stating your plan. Instead, present the problem and the constraints, and ask, "How would you solve this?" (remember the 4 magic words? "What do you think?") When they offer an idea, praise the act of critical thinking itself, not just their agreement with you. Explicitly reward constructive dissent in team meetings. You're signaling which behaviors you truly value.
Scenario 2: Moving an "Alienated Follower" to an "Exemplary Follower"
People's first instinct with their "Gilfoyle" were usually to manage him out. That said, sometime, the best first move might be to take them for coffee instead.
Your Action: Take them aside for a candid, private conversation. Don't be defensive. Start with validation: "I genuinely value your critical eye. You consistently see things others miss. But I also get the sense you're frustrated, and I want to understand why." This isn't a performance review; it's an act of re-recruitment. Then, give them ownership over a high-impact, thorny problem they've identified.
Scenario 3: Moving a "Passive Follower" to an "Exemplary Follower"
A junior developer reliably finishes their tasks and then waits for you to assign the next ticket.
Your Action: You need to build their "courage to assume responsibility," as Ira Chaleff would say (The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders). Create psychological safety by starting small. Say, "After this ticket, I want you to look at the backlog, pick what you believe is the most important next task, and come tell me why you chose it." Celebrate their initiative, even if you would have chosen differently at first. The goal here isn't perfect prioritization; it's building the habit of ownership.
Scenario 4: Moving a "Pragmatic Follower" to an "Exemplary Follower"
During a heated debate about two competing technical strategies, your "Dinesh" remains neutral, offering vague pros and cons for both sides without taking a clear stance.
Your Action: Depoliticize the decision and force a commitment to the mission. Address them directly: "Dinesh, I need your real opinion here. Let's forget who proposed what. Based on our core goal of [insert mission], which path has a higher chance of success? Your voice is crucial in making this call." By framing it around the collective goal and explicitly valuing their input, you make it safer for them to commit to an idea rather than a person.
(Now, if you're reading this and not leading a team, this framework is still for you. It's a powerful tool for self-awareness. Ask yourself: What style am I defaulting to? What kind of environment brings out my 'Exemplary Follower' self? Understanding this gives you the agency to manage your own career and seek out leaders who will help you thrive.)
"Always Blue! Always Blue!"
Leadership gets all the glory, but followership does all the work. It's the quiet, essential engine of execution, innovation, and culture.
The next time you evaluate your team, or yourself, look past the org chart. Don't just ask, "Who are my leaders?" Ask the more telling question: "What kind of followers am I creating?"
The answer will tell you everything you need to know about your own leadership.
What's one strategy you've used to turn a cynical follower into a true Exemplary Follower? I'd love to hear your stories.
(P.S. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch Silicon Valley. And sign up to the best streaming service on the planet - HBO Max, Max, HBO Max!)
#Leadership #Followership #TeamCulture #Management #ProductManagement #EngineeringLeadership #SiliconValley