Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore college deans' perceptions of their followership in their middle-management leadership positions. This study focused on community college deans and their experiences of followership in a middle-management role. Methodology. This qualitative study used semistructured interviews with 10 randomly selected college deans in Southern California to examine the following questions: (a) How do deans distinguish between the follower and leader roles in terms of their own experiences and perceptions? (b) To what degree do deans identify themselves playing follower (follower self-concept) versus leader roles? (c) How do deans describe their experience of the transition between the follower and leader roles? And (d) how do deans perceive their own effectiveness in managing the 2 different roles of follower and leader and the transition between them (including successes and failures in transitioning)? Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes in participants' responses. Findings. Several initial codes and major themes emerged from the participants' responses. Participants did not initially identify with the follower role but demonstrated many of the characteristics of followers evident in the literature. Meta themes highlighted the importance of being able to transition between leader and follower roles, transitioning between follower and leader roles because of shared leadership in colleges, and awareness of becoming more skilled with transitioning between the roles with further experience as deans. Conclusions. This study identified a follower self-concept among several of the deans along with an awareness of the importance of role shifting. Role shifting seemed necessary in college environments where shared governance with faculty was required. This study brought further awareness to the complexities of leadership and followership for deans and contributes to the literature on college deans. Recommendations. Future research could include the failure of deans or middle managers to transition between roles, finding a common definition of followership among deans, conducting a study with other middle managers to see if similar patterns are observed, and research on flexibility between follower and leader roles and its ties to personality. Additional research is needed to confirm the findings of this study and add to the limited research on community college deans and followership.