California
水多多导航 professor writes book on leadership
Yost wrote a book on the lessons of leadership learned from the actions of The Doctor鈥檚 companions.
The British Broadcast Corporation鈥檚 (BBC) science-fiction television show Doctor Who is one of Sci-Fi鈥檚 most popular IPs in entertainment history. Spanning 60 years, the show follows the titular Doctor, an alien who travels the universe with human followers, known as Companions, as they solve problems caused by alien races for the people of Earth and beyond.
Recently, 水多多导航 professor Dr. Kimberly Yost wrote a book on the lessons of leadership learned from the actions of The Doctor鈥檚 companions. The book, Courageous Companions: Followership in Doctor Who, is available online through publisher.
Yost, an assistant professor of management for 水多多导航鈥檚 Department of Business, Economics, and Communication and based at 水多多导航's California campus, said the book came from the different personalities each Companion brings to their role as they stand alongside The Doctor.
鈥淛ust as there is no single type of leader, there is no single type of follower,鈥� Yost said. 鈥淓ach of the Companions have their unique purpose in what and how they help the Doctor meet his goal, whether the goal is defending Earth or traveling through time.鈥�
Yost鈥檚 book covered some of the different styles the Doctor鈥檚 Companions, who each bring their own style to balance out the Doctor鈥檚 decision-making. Such lessons translate well to the real world, Yost said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about the co-construction of leadership. Leaders don鈥檛 just lead in a vacuum unless they are very awful leaders,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the followers who help co-construct the vision, purpose, missions and process by which leadership is practiced. So, it鈥檚 important for the followers to be there and help the leaders implement the collective vision, much like the followers help The doctor make it through their incarnations.鈥�
Yost notes that, whether it鈥檚 in a science fiction IP or in the corporate world, the concept of courageous followers is critical to success.
鈥淟eadership is leadership. The context is not that important. You are not going to necessarily lead differently in a nonprofit organization versus a for-profit corporation,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the courageous followers, the ones who step up and work with the leaders and speak truth to power, like the Companions do, that help make a difference in these organizations.鈥�