Followership


A Celebration of Followership – Article by Ira Chaleff published in ILA Intersections

The Iternational Leadership Association (ILA) has recently published Ira Chaleff’s article on his latest book A Celebration of Followership. In one of its paragraphs, Ira says: … in every level of society, followership and leadership are intertwined and consequential. Leaders and followers are mutually responsible for positive outcomes of their […]


Courageous Followership in the Military

Make the Time: Think, Connect, & Care – Article by Lt. Col. Karri Roman, 375th Health Care Operations Squadron commander / Published July 12, 2021 @ Scott Airforce Base website. “… The Airman is a courageous follower who takes risk. They ask questions and challenge the status quo; after all, a supervisor’s response such as “because that’s the way we’ve always done it” is rarely accepted…”


Heroic example of Intelligent Disobedience

I received the following message from Alexander Voronov, a colleague in Russia who is one of the handful of international scholars who have deeply studied the works of Stanley Milgram on Obedience. Here is his poignant observation: “Dear Ira: It seems to me that the picture on the cover of the Russian edition of your book Intelligent Disobedience creates associations …”

Heroic example of Intelligent Disobedience

Courage

In a world where the sand is continuously shifting underfoot, courage is a lifeboat. Yes, we need lifeboats even on land in these times of rapid transition, uncertainty, and abuse of power. Sharna Fabiano, Life Coach, Followership trainer and Tango teacher extraordinaire has written on How To Be Brave in […]


Partners in Courage

I had the great pleasure of visiting my colleague Bill Treasurer at his home in North Carolina this past week, on my way back from viewing the awesome total eclipse from high up in the gorgeous Smoky Mountains. Bill and I are comrades-in-arms. He published his first book Right Risk […]


Book Excerpt – Wise Leaders Value Intelligent Disobedience

Intelligent Disobedience does not imply that the authority figure is acting immorally, though that case certainly occurs. The individual with formal authority may simply be wrong for a variety of reasons. There are many other well- intentioned reasons that a person with authority may ask us to do something that […]


Book Excerpt – What is Intelligent Disobedience?

What exactly is Intelligent Disobedience? I had the same question when I first heard the term. These are two words that don’t usually fit together. We know what obedience is: following orders or rules or established ways of doing things. Obeying usually keeps life running smoothly. Disobedience is a contrary […]


Tortured Souls

In the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Army Major General (Retired) Antonio Taguba and Marine Lt Colonel (Retired) Scott Cooper review two memoirs about torture that the authors of the memoirs participated in while assigned to the Mid-East in the “war on terror.” These memoirs are relevant reads for […]


Ethical workplace: Cracking the courage code

I recommend Dr. Arthur Schwartz’s article The Ethical Workplace: Cracking the Courage Code. Dr. Schwartz is a colleague on the board of directors of the International Leadership Association. He identifies five factors that contribute to courage in the workplace. I am particularly interested in the fifth factor that courage is […]