In this short article, we explore and problematise the axiomatic assumption of follower in the field of leadership studies notably the leader–follower axiom as the essential foundation of much leadership theorising. We do so, firstly by drawing on our experiences of exploring followership conceptually, and secondly, by reviewing conversations with executive MBA students. From these sources, we argue that the absence of identifications with followership offers a challenge to leadership assumptions around the socio-materiality of followers and their relations with leaders within organisational contexts. This leads us to questions like: what if follower identifications do not typically exist or are rejected in everyday organisational working contexts – despite discursive labelling of individuals as followers or following practices? Would or should leadership research and its examination of leader–follower dynamics fundamentally change and in what ways? We explore these questions and suggest very different orientations that might appear with regards to notions of the leadership relationship, leading and following dynamics, practice-based attention to leadership and perhaps very different approaches to leadership development. Such a (re)appraisal of the leadership lexicon may move notions of follower identification out of social constructions of organisational leadership and towards social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) – where the phenomenon of being a follower is ever present, but is redefined as a phenomenon of vicarious fantasy associated with interest, curiosity and entertainment.

在这篇简短的文章中，我们探讨了领导者研究领域中追随者的公理假设，并对其进行了质疑，尤其是作为领导理论的重要基础的领导者-跟随者公理。首先，我们从概念上探索追随者的经验，其次，通过与高管MBA学生的对话进行回顾。从这些资料来看，我们认为缺乏对追随者的认同对围绕着追随者的社会实质及其在组织环境中与领导者的关系的领导者假设提出了挑战。这导致我们遇到以下问题：如果在日常的组织工作环境中通常不存在追随者身份或将其拒之门外，尽管将个人离散地标记为追随者或遵循惯例该怎么办？领导力研究及其对领导者与跟随者动力的研究是否会从根本上发生变化？我们探讨了这些问题，并提出了关于领导力关系，领导和跟随动力，对领导力的基于实践的关注以及领导力发展方法可能非常不同的不同取向。对领导词典的这种（重新）评估可能会将追随者识别的概念从组织领导的社会结构转移到社交媒体（Facebook，