About Chris (Christian) Monö
My interest in followership began on a beautiful February day in 2007. A relative was wondering why employers were so focused on leadership but not followership. (The whole story is in my book.)
The question stirred something in me, and the next day I began my work on followership. To my great surprise, I found that very little had been written on the subject. And what I found didn’t really answer the one question I valued most:
What makes a person want to follow someone else, when they don’t have to?
Theory and practice
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to test my ideas in practice. I’ve been a manager at various levels and in very different settings — from reorganizations, mergers, and closures to start-ups and fast-growing companies.
All along, I’ve paid close attention to what actually happens between people, and tried to understand it as natural leadership and followership. It has helped, too, to have seen the world from more than one angle — I spent almost ten years in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe growing up.
I’m the author of Why We Follow, I work regularly with clients including the Swedish Armed Forces, and in 2024 I received the Followership Award of Distinction from the Global Followership Network.
Why this matters beyond the workplace
What drives me to continue this work is a conviction that our obsession with leadership comes at a great cost — not just for organizations, but for society as a whole. It undermines collaboration, encourages passivity, and often hands those in power a false sense of control.
I believe we can build something better — but only if we let go of the leadership myths that constrain our thinking. Instead, we need to focus on what really matters: people’s ability to work together.
Spare time
I’m always working on something. For example, I’m a co-founder of the game studio Brightland Maze, where I work as a story and narrative designer — it lets me combine several of my hobbies: writing, photography, and image design.
When I’m not at my computer, you’ll usually find me pottering about in the garden, where I get to build, weld, and otherwise work with my hands.
I live just outside Stockholm with my family, a dog, two cats, a few hens, some bees, and a few other animals that make life a little crazy — in a good way.