Chapter 7: The Decision to Lead; the Choice to Follow

Our goal in this volume has been to provide an explanation of the nature of social influence through the development of an integrative view that bridges leadership and communication theory. The subtitle of this chapter brings us full circle in terms of how we think about leadership and followership, and it leads us to raise extremely fundamental questions – which are informed by the linkages among leadership, communication, and social influence presented in the previous pages, and also by the introduction of the framework that incorporates the concepts of resonance, activation, and cultivation. It is our hope that the framework proves valuable for those engaging in leadership and followership practices in terms of deciding when to lead and when to make the choice to follow.