Followership in Community Needs Assessment: Reframing Collaboration in a Statewide Situation Analysis

Abstract

Community needs assessment is a foundational practice in Extension systems, yet it is most often conceptualized through collaboration and stakeholder engagement rather than followership. This study reframes a statewide Virginia Cooperative Extension Situation Analysis as a leadership–followership system in which stakeholders actively co-create direction through participation, voice, and shared purpose. Using a multi-method design, data were collected from internal and external stakeholders through a modified Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory and open-ended responses, as well as follow-up interviews. Findings indicate strong collaboration, with shared purpose and mutual respect emerging as key strengths, while process clarity and inclusivity of relevant stakeholders were comparatively weaker. External stakeholders reported more positive perceptions than Extension employees, suggesting differences in how participation and influence are experienced across roles. Interpreted through a followership lens, these results highlight how effective followership is enacted through relational conditions that support voice, trust, and collective ownership of community priorities. At the same time, gaps in communication, representation, and process structure point to constraints on inclusive and fully realized followership. This study contributes to followership research by extending it into a public-serving, community-based context and by demonstrating how collaboration metrics can illuminate conditions that enable or inhibit followership. Implications include the need to intentionally develop followership capacity among Extension personnel and stakeholders through training in facilitation, communication, and inclusive engagement practices.