TITLE:
Mastering Organizational Structure for Building Followership: A Strategy for Transitioning Managers into Leaders
AUTHORS:
A. Olu Oyinlade
KEYWORDS:
Leadership, Leadership Behavior, Unit Leader, Organizational Structure, Building Followership, Followership
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.13 No.6,
November
20,
2025
ABSTRACT: Given that leadership has been widely accepted in research as the process of influencing others to accomplish goals without resorting to managerial techniques and reliance on position authority, it becomes imperative for leader-aspiring managers to learn how to gain such influence. Consistent with the claims of previous studies on leadership, this study asserts that the ability to influence others to accomplish tasks is based on effective interpersonal relationships between managers and their subordinates that culminate in the transformation of subordinates into followers and managers into leaders. This study further asserts that the mastery of an organizational structure can be harnessed through effective human relations to build a followership. In doing so, well-knowledgeable managers can use their knowledge of organizational structure to enhance employee success, career development, upward mobility, and avoidance of negative organizational sanctions. Consequently, these beneficial outcomes of applying knowledge of organizational structure will aid employees in their transition from subordinates to followers and in recognizing managers as leaders. Therefore, it will be beneficial for managers to gain a deep understanding of their organizational structures and effectively apply this knowledge to benefit their subordinates.