Followership: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A Celebration of Followership

A retrospective comprising nearly 400 documents of the vital contribution of Ira Chaleff’s decades of work on courageous followership.

The book belongs on the desk of every leadership and followership educator, and in every library where researchers will find great value in the compendium of evidence it presents on the impact of new, dynamic followership concepts.

Bob McGannon

I am delighted that a second book on Intelligent Disobedience has been published by my colleague Bob McGannon. Bob is a world expert in project management. His application of Intelligent Disobedience to this aspect of the workplace makes a great contribution to this new field.

Visit Bob McGannon’s site

Mary C. Gentile

When I discuss the courage to take a moral stand in my workshops I also refer participants to the work of Mary Gentile. She offers the most forward thinking way of preparing ourselves to effectively say “no” when peers or leaders are choosing expediency over ethical choices.

Visit Mary C. Gentile’s site

Marc Hurwitz & Rachael Thompson

This is a book that could not have been written even a few years ago. The knowledge it contains—how to effectively teach followership—had not been developed until very recently. It is the first book I know of that identifies the multiple barriers and presents hard-won, practical strategies, tactics, and tools for doing so.

Visit at Wiley Online Library

Wendy E. Edmonds

A book for those who desire to gain insight into the leader/follower dynamic in order to serve others by unmasking the dangers of toxic followership, provide prevention suggestions, and reveal followers’ power, even in desperate situations.

Visit at Emerald Bookstore

Sharna Fabiano

This book dispassionately and usefully analyzes follower-leader dynamics and then reinjects the passion needed to make a difference in the process and potentially in the outcome. Provided views and counsel are grounded in the reality that the most courageous follower won’t always prevail, that the process of social change is usually lengthy, and a toolkit is available to draw from if one commits to not looking away.

More at Sharna’s site

While initially followership authors needed to lift up followership from the sea of leadership in which it was lost, current authors are also examining the dark side of followership that enables poor or destructive leadership. The future of this work is promising and it is crucially needed.

Ira Chaleff from his latest book
A Celebration of Followership

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Featured Speech

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Blink! Think! Make Your Choice, Use Your Voice.

Teaching kids to disobey (intelligently)

January 20, 2016 – HowToLearn.com

When you place your children in the care of other adults – day care providers, teachers, coaches, religious clerics, camp counselors – you trust they will be safe but you know you can’t be totally sure. When a supposedly trusted authority figure tells a child to do something wrong it is a confusing and potentially dangerous experience.

You prepare your children to not get into cars with strangers or walk off with a stranger at the mall. How do you prepare them for the rare but complex situation when a legitimate authority figure tells them to do something they shouldn’t?

Many of us don’t. Let’s see how we might.

[…]

“Blink! Think! Choice! Voice!” teaches children how to say “no” when saying “yes” would be harmful. This is known as “Intelligent Disobedience.” It is a critical skill both for safety and good citizenship. It is taught to guide dogs and service dogs. Surely we can teach it to children.

Read full article

The latest tool in teaching kids to disobey intelligently is a handbook for parents and caregivers to use with children. It provides an easy to remember technique to keep children safe if they are told to do something harmful.

Click on cover to order your copy of this handbook today. It is simple to use and you can make copies for other adults or children in your household.

Visit Blink! Think! Choice! Voice!

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Videoclip by Mike Powel

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Recent and Upcoming Agenda

2020

April 8

University of Southern Maine

April 4

Marietta College

2019

October 23-24

Courageous Follower: Train the Trainer Program, Ottawa, Canada

October 1

Introducing Intelligent Disobedience applied to Child Development and Safety, CFA Institute, Charlottesville, VA

September

Berrett-Koehler Authors Conference, Wisconsin

September 14

Courageous Follower Keynote Address, US Senate Chiefs of Staff Retreat, Annapolis, Maryland

July 26-27

Courageous Follower Keynote Address, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

June 10-14

Courageous Followers, Courageous Leaders Workshop, Federal Executive Institute

May 19

Intelligent Disobedience Keynote Addresses, Vancouver, British Columbia

May 13-14

Courageous Follower Workshops, Grand Canyon, National Park Service

May 8

Intelligent Disobedience Keynote Addresses, Vancouver, British Columbia

February

Courageous Followers & Leaders Workshop, National Science Foundation

February

Courageous Follower Podcast, Federal Judicial Center

2018

December 10

Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

December 6-7

Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico

December 3

United States Congress Chiefs of Staff

October 23-27

International Leadership Association Global Conference

October 18-21

Berrett-Kohler Authors Retreat

October 11

Western Michigan University

August 17-20

Federal Executive Institute

August 13

Federal Executive Institute

July 26

Eastern Management Development Center

July 24

Internal Leadership Association Webinar (open to public)

July 16-20

Federal Executive Institute

June 25-27

Federal Executive Institute

May 7-11

Federal Executive Institute

April 23-27

Federal Executive Institute

April 6

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

March 13-16

Federal Executive Institute

March 10

Mount Vernon Baptist Church

March 6

University of West Virginia

January 15-18

Federal Executive Institute

2017

December 5

US Department of Justice, Washington DC

November 10

Rappahannock Association for Arts & Community, VA

October 24-27

Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, VA

October 17-18

Train the Trainer, Brussels

October 16

EU Commission, Brussels

October 11-13

International Leadership Association, Brussels

October 9

Cambridge University, United Kingdom

October 4

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, United Kingdom

September 19-22

Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, VA

August 10-11

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Burbank, California

July 18-21

Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, VA

July 17

Eastern Management Development Center, Potomac Maryland

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The Courageous Follower offers a new model for the follower role that provides dynamic support for leaders but does not hesitate to constructively speak truth to power. It also offers a model of Courageous Leadership that creates the conditions in which it is easier for followers to speak the truth as they see it and for leaders…

Blink! Think! Choice! Voice!

When you place your children in the care of other adults – day care providers, teachers, coaches, religious clerics, camp counselors – you trust they will be safe but you know you can’t be totally sure. When a supposedly trusted authority figure tells a child to do something wrong it is a confusing and potentially dangerous experience…

Teaching Followers Courage

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Organized violence of man on man continues to be part of the human experience. In many cases, despotic regimes perpetrate this violence. In other situations, violence is the response of people that rebel against oppressive systems. In the book “The Limits of Violence: Lessons of a Revolutionary Life”, Ira Chaleff compiles…

Engage Ira as Speaker

Named one of the “100 best minds on leadership” by Leadership Excellence magazine, Ira Chaleff has fully earned his reputation as a ground breaking author and speaker.

Speaking Topics

Leadership
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Brand Preservation
Government, Military and Law Enforcement
Education
Parenting
Risk management
Decision Making
Teamwork

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If you want a memorable, refreshing topic for your conference or program, read on or click on Keynotes to download Ira Chaleff Speaker Sheet.

Ira has been recognized in the Harvard Business Review as one of the three pioneers in the burgeoning field of followership development. Now Ira has again broken new ground with his book, Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You’re Told To Do Is Wrong.”

Chock with fresh insight, Intelligent Disobedience has been named the best leadership book of 2015 by The University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences based on its “innovation with new perspectives … and disruptive, emerging scholarship”.

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Courageous Followership

What is Courageous Followership?

Courageous Followership is a model for the follower role that provides dynamic support for leaders but does not hesitate to constructively speak truth to power. It is also a model of Courageous Leadership that creates the conditions in which it is easier for followers to speak the truth as they see it and for leaders to give appropriate consideration to what they are being told. It is a developmental path to true partnership between leaders and followers in the service of the organization’s mission.

Resources

Intelligent Disobedience

What is Intelligent Disobedience?

Nearly every week we read about a tragedy or scandal that could have been prevented if individuals had said no to ill-advised or illegitimate order. Intelligent Disobedience explores when and how to disobey inappropriate orders, reduce unacceptable risk, and find better ways to achieve legitimate goals.

Doing right when what you’re told to do is wrong

Not obeying if obeying will produce harm

Resources

Book

Handbook for Parents

Video describing Intelligent Disobedience based on one of Ira’s many radio interviews.

On IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today’s Voices, Produced by Guy Rathbun for PRX – Public Radio Exchange, Videoclip by Gail Leondar-Wright (July 15, 2015)

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Leadership for the Greater Good: Reflections on Today’s Challenges From Around the World.

Followership: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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