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The 80/10/10 Model: Leadership, Followership, and the Power of Exceptional Individuals

The 80/10/10 Model
Lawrence Fine

This book introduces the 80/10/10 framework, reframing organizational performance around the interaction between followers, formal leaders, and exceptional individuals. It argues that outcomes are driven less by leadership alone and more by how the 80% are activated, supported, or suppressed.

The model provides a diagnostic lens for culture, accountability, and performance — challenging the conventional wisdom that great organizations are built from the top down.

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What You'll Learn

  • Why 80% of organizational outcomes are driven by followers, not formal leaders
  • The five follower types — Isolates, Bystanders, Participants, Activists, and Diehards — and how each shapes your culture
  • How to diagnose engagement levels across your organization using the Kellerman spectrum
  • The role of quasi-leaders — informal influencers without titles who quietly shape team norms and performance
  • Practical tools including a Followership Diagnostic Survey, Engagement Mapping, and Voice Barrier Analysis
  • Why cultures of silence produce Bystanders and Isolates, and how to build cultures of voice that activate the 80%
  • Strategies for converting disengaged followers into Participants and Activists through graduated engagement pathways

Who This Book Is For

This book is written for business leaders, executives, and managers who sense that their leadership approach alone isn't producing the organizational results they expect. It's especially relevant for anyone responsible for team performance, organizational design, or culture transformation — from Fortune 500 VPs to mid-market department heads. It's also a valuable resource for management theorists, MBA students, and organizational behavior scholars interested in a research-grounded framework that moves beyond conventional leadership-centric models.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 80/10/10 model?

The 80/10/10 model reframes the Pareto Principle for organizational dynamics. It recognizes that approximately 80% of any organization functions as followers, 10% as formal leaders, and 10% as exceptional individuals who transcend standard roles. The model argues that the collective engagement of the 80% — not leadership alone — ultimately determines whether an organization succeeds or fails.

How is this different from traditional leadership books?

Most leadership books focus on what leaders should do. This book shifts the lens to followership — the overlooked force that actually drives organizational outcomes. It draws on Barbara Kellerman's followership typology and real-world cases like the 2018 Google employee walkout to show that activated followers can reshape corporate behavior in ways that top-down leadership alone cannot.

Is this book available for free?

Yes. The full PDF is available as a free download. Enter your name and email above and you'll receive immediate access to all 168 pages.

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