Abstract

Leadership and followership are not static roles, but dynamic behavioral processes shaped by context, intent, perception, and learning. This article explores how both leadership and followership behaviors can be either functional or dysfunctional, depending on how they are enacted and interpreted within relational and organizational systems. Drawing on foundational and contemporary theories—including Leader-Follower Theory, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL), Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation, French and Raven’s Bases of Power, and Group Cohesion—the article illustrates the complex interplay between influence, motivation, and behavior. Additionally, it incorporates Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Mary Parker Follett’s early leadership philosophy to establish a behavioral framework rooted in reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, and integrative power. Through expanded case examples and critical analysis, the article demonstrates how both leaders and followers co-create functional or dysfunctional outcomes. Implications are offered for leadership development practices that emphasize the use of tessellations of behavior, co-creation, adaptive responsibility, and system-based thinking in cultivating healthy, high-performing organizational cultures.