What we need today: Good followers

In his bestselling book "The Power of Followership," Robert Kelly asserts that leaders account for, at most, 20 percent of an organization's success.

- 

The remaining 80 percent depends on followers. In fact, principled followership leads to effective and trustworthy leadership. The master begins as a disciple; the teacher, as a student; and the expert, as an apprentice.

Our obsession with leadership has cast a long shadow over the equally vital role of followership in governance. Sound political and economic systems do not just depend on good leaders, but also on responsible followers. Yet in the Philippines, many of us regard government leaders as the sole architects of our national destiny, and we, the passive recipients of their supposed benevolence. Consequently, when things go wrong, we blame those in power, rarely questioning our own role in the system.