Followership Resilience in Administrative Structures: A New Perspective

The study explores followership resilience in three Bulgarian municipalities. Its purpose is twofold: first, to draw the attention of researchers and managers on followership resilience, and second, to explore proactivity and trust as factors of followership resilience in administrative structures. The study is based on a qualitative approach, and uses a combination of two research strategies – exploratory and descriptive. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews with a sample of 35 municipal employees (10.2% from the general population). Followership resilience is analyzed by means of followers’ psychological readiness to participate in the decision-making process and to trust superiors. Four types of followers are identified and strengths and weaknesses of each type are discussed. The preference of the majority of interviewees (69%) to follow instructions and not to trust leaders is interpreted. It is concluded that the formula for successful followership resilience in terms of proactivity and trust involves achieving balance and coherence.