A Study of the Relationship Between Followership Modalities and Leadership Styles Among Educators at Selected High Schools in Jackson, Mississippi

Problem. The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of the relationship between followership modalities and leadership styles. High-school teachers and principals in the Jackson Public School District in Jackson, Mississippi, participated in the study. Method. Methodological triangulation that combined quantitative and qualitative methods served as the study\u27s research design. A 45-item Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5x-Short), developed by Bass and Avolio (1995), and a well-established measure of leadership style, was administered to the principals. A 20-item, self-diagnostic questionnaire, developed by Robert Kelley, designed to measure followership modalities, was administered to the high school teachers who participated in the study. Semi-formal interviews were also conducted with principals and teachers. One-way ANOVA and transcriptions of themes compiled from interviews were used to analyze the data. Findings. The findings of the study revealed there is limited variation in followership modalities in educational institutions. There is extensive variation in follower performance within identified followership modalities. Followership modalities correspond with leadership styles among teachers and principals. There is no difference in followers\u27 active engagement skills based on gender, age, teaching experience and time with the leader. There is no difference in followers\u27 independent critical-thinking skills based on gender, age, teaching experience, and time with the leader. Conclusions. This study\u27s examination of followership modality variation among teachers revealed that followers generally reflect modality that corresponds with the leaders\u27 style and behavior. Competent, visionary, inspiring, and stimulating leaders will predictably have followers who demonstrate similar traits. The majority of followers in this study seemed to emulate their leader\u27s general style, greatly limiting the amount of variation in followership modality. However, the relational aspect of the leader-follower bond allows the leader to determine the extent to which followers demonstrate a certain followership modality