The dance of empowerment: The experience of female followers of female leaders

This study takes the role of the follower out of the shadows and gives it the attention it deserves in organizational scholarship. Existing literature has particularly failed to represent the experience of the female follower or the role of communication in the co-creation of empowerment with the leader and other followers. Women may view and experience power differently than men adding to the complexity of their relationships in the workplace. Through conceptual frameworks of social construction, feminist development theory and organizational psychodynamics, this study sheds new light on the dynamics of women followers of women leaders.;Qualitative interviews were conducted to bring forward the voices and experiences of 16 female nonprofit sector women who report to women. The key finding was that the distance between empowerment and disempowerment in communication with participant's leaders was short and sometimes shifted with just one conversation. Organizational investments of time and money in empowerment practices, programs and processes were not related to participants' increased sense of empowerment. Psychological factors such as; mutual trust, a collaborative environment, personal and professional support, appreciation and a sense of safety were more salient in participants' experiences of empowerment with their leaders. Definitions and views of power, empowerment and disempowerment were also very different from those in the mainstream literature and they were different for each individual participant. Early childhood influences such as parental role models and cultural factors continue to influence perceptions and expectations in the workplace in adulthood.;Reality is created through the language we use. A different reality requires use of different language. To remove the stigma around followership, we need a positive, healthy conversation that includes both genders, representing employees in both sectors. This study contributes to that important conversation.