When we think of great world events, we can quote the leaders who are synonymous with them: Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela, to name but a few. But behind each leader there were hundreds of thousands, even millions, who "followed" them and delivered their vision into reality.

Kellerman’s book, subtitled "How followers are creating change and changing leaders," aims to depart from the leadership-centric approach and highlight the authority that followers can and do wield in the form of "followership". An important objective of the book is to demonstrate that followers are not without power. On the contrary, clear examples show how vulnerable leaders are to forces beyond their control, especially those followers who are dismissed or ignored. It was follower power that carried through changes to civil rights in the US, brought about the end of apartheid in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall in Europe.